Tag: Poems

To failure!

I listened to the most wonderful radio programme about failure the other day. It featured Anne Enright talking with clear-eyed … More

Teaching paying attention

Lately I have been pondering the practice of paying attention, vis-à-vis my habit of keeping a notebook to capture impressions, … More

The stationery thing again

  My blog post yesterday about the stationery thing provoked more responses than I ever imagined it would. Among the … More

The real test of a poem

I was very saddened to learn recently of the death of Michael Baldwin, the novelist, poet, writing tutor and former … More

Lifesaving Poems: Margaret Avison’s ‘Twilight’

Twilight   Three minutes ago it was almost dark. Now all the darkness is in the leaves (there are no … More

Don’t clap

I once heard Andrew Motion give a poetry reading at a day-conference for teachers, writers and writers in education. There … More

Don Paterson’s ‘Oh God’ moment

The most immediate and forthright analysis of a poem I have seen at any poetry workshop occurred as I passed … More

Bringing each other to perfection

One of the most powerful performances on my old Faber cassette tape of Ted Hughes reading his poems is ‘Bride … More

Spun in drafts

Damp white imprints dog the feet; snowbound trolley, snowbound street. Her tip of glove to lip and cheek, “Goodbye.” Go. … More

The crying boy at the airport

My wife and I are at the airport of a European capital city. It’s late on a Friday evening, the … More

No rights in this matter

I have been thinking a lot recently about final lines of poems. I’ve always been fond of Seamus Heaney’s comment about … More

You’ve got to eat

The Day After I made a leek and potato soup the day after, prompted by the look of the peeled … More

I Am Not I

I Am Not I I am not I.                    I am this one walking beside me whom I do not … More

Heal into time and other people

I have been thinking a lot recently about the gap between what is expected of us and what we think … More