One poet talking about another poet

Once upon a time I broke the rules and spoke with another poet (it doesn’t matter who) about a … 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

I get to the reading on time. I find a place near the front, so I can get to the … More

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

Dear Anthony (I will never get used to calling you Tony) Here are some words of advice from your nearing-fifty-year-old … More

If you’re not enough without the gold medal, you’ll never be enough with it. – John Candy, Cool Runnings I did not … More

Things I Learned at University How to bike on cobblestones and where to signal right. How to walk through doors … More

Hysteria As she laughed I was aware of becoming involved in her laughter and being part of it, until her … More

A comment Mark Robinson made in the days following Seamus Heaney’s death in August resonated with me. He said he … More

The Only Son at the Fish ‘n’ Chip Shop He lived with his mother till he was forty-five … More

How It All Started Do you know this dream? An exam room full of neat, serious girls, your lucky gonk … More

Rondeau Redouble There is so little left. The room is bare. She’ll strip his sheets and blankets by and … More

Psalm How leaky are the borders of man-made states! How many clouds float over them scot-free, how much … More

A year ago I went to hear Clare Best read from her extraordinary book Excisions (Waterloo Press, 2011). Clare … More

Timetable We all remember school, of course: the lino warming, shoe bag smell, expanse of polished floor. It’s where we … More

Laura Apol’s ‘The Switch’ is a witty poem which explores the tension between primal, and sometimes unforeseen, forces and the … More

Swineherd When all this is over, said the swineherd, I mean to retire, where Nobody will have heard about … More

Early Summer Small things get lost now;There are intrusions,Defeats in alien worlds. This is the time to slide a foolish … More