The book has had a fall, and now we are sitting in a waiting room, waiting to be seen. This … More
Tag: Poetry
Leaving the house
We have left the house. At first our walking is clumsy, comical, even. The book is three yards ahead of … More
On Discovering My Voice
I am at a thing. Canals are there. Sunlight on them, the last tourists, a shifting of the seasons. ‘Soon … More
A new poem: Sunlight
I am delighted to have a new poem, ‘Sunlight’, for my dear friend Peter Carpenter, published at The Stare’s Nest. … More
Lifesaving Poems: Craig Raine’s ‘Heaven on Earth’
Heaven on Earth Now that it is night, you fetch the wash from outer space, from the frozen … More
Why do it?
because of the words and because of the books because of the woman in the anorak at the swimming baths … More
A new poem: Some More Strategies for the End of the World
I am delighted to have a new poem, Some More Strategies for the End of the World, published today at … More
Going for coffee
The book and I are passing each other messages through a third party. Neither of us bothers with the niceties … More
Just another Wednesday
Days Each one is a gift, no doubt, mysteriously placed in your waking hand or set upon your forehead moments … More
Lifesaving Poems: Boris Pasternak’s ‘Hamlet’
Hamlet The buzz subsides. I have come on stage. Leaning in an open door I try to detect from … More
Visiting hours
I am visiting the book. We have already been through a lot together, including the part where I killed it and … More
Lifesaving Poems: Denise Levertov’s ‘The Secret’
The Secret Two girls discover the secret of life in a sudden line of poetry. I who don’t know the … More
Murdering my darling
I have murdered my darling. Like a bird of a certain blue vintage, it is ex, dead, kaput, finished. The … More
Another look at Lux’s ‘An Horatian Notion’
One of my personal, private highlights of last year’s Aldeburgh Poetry Festival was a Sunday morning breakfast hosted by The … More
After Paris
I found two blog posts especially moving in the aftermath of last week’s attacks in Paris, both by the same … More
Lifesaving Poems: Ellen Doré Watson’s ‘Be Here First’
Be Here First I don’t know my trees but I know my trees. Their angling for what has spurned them; their spitting … More
Making Poetry Happen
Announcing the publication of Making Poetry Happen: Transforming the Poetry Classroom (Bloomsbury, 2015). Making Poetry Happen provides a valuable resource … More
Influences: my first reader
My first reader was a man called Fergus. A friend of a flatmate at university, I never got to … More
Lifesaving Poems 