On Seventh Avenue South Walk more slowly now.You will never again step pastthe boy who has just reached 51,000,094,246.He can … More
Tag: Reading Poetry
Advent Poems 7: Sycamores at Tulse Hill Station, by Christopher North
Sycamores at Tulse Hill Station The long platform is full.The Sycamores beyond the chain linkare moving in morning wind,their leaves … More
Advent Poems 6: An Arab Shepherd is Searching for His Goat on Mount Zion
An Arab Shepherd is Searching for His Goat on Mount Zion An Arab shepherd is searching for his goat on … More
Advent Poems 5: Final Notations, by Adrienne Rich
Final Notations it will not be simple, it will not be longit will take little time, it will take all … More
Advent Poems 4: A Little Bit About the Soul, by Wisława Szymborska
A Little Bit About the Soul A soul is something we have every now and then.Nobody has one all the … More
Advent Poems 3: In a Time of Peace, by Ilya Kaminsky
In a Time of Peace Inhabitant of earth for fortysomething yearsI once found myself in a peaceful country. I … More
Advent poems 2: Old Folks Laugh, by Maya Angelou
Old Folks Laugh They have spent theircontent of simpering,holding their lips thisand that way, windingthe lines betweentheir brows. Old folksallow … More
Kind of to a desk
Thank you to the heroic bloggers and poets Josephine Corcoran and Robin Houghton for their recentish posts about their desks. … More
In service of silence
Shute Festival, 13 September, St Michael’s Church The audience in pews. September sunlight and warmth still in the air, light … More
Workshopping Settee in Autumn
Settee in Autumn The leaves change colour and fallon the russet settee. Sticky buds are stuckdown the back of the … More
An interview at Wombwell Rainbow
Paul Brookes at Wombwell Rainbow has posted an interview with me about my reading and writing life, my influences … More
‘Clear of the wheel of myself’: Workshopping Michael Laskey’s ‘Bike’
Bike You, who have borne three sonsof mine, still bear my weightroutinely, transporting me. An odd pair: your classic … More
The Year of Living Deeply 29: Specs
At a guess I’ve been wearing them somewhere around the last ten years. Not having inherited my father’s genius … More
Aldeburgh Poetry Festival blog posts page
In 2014 I was invited by the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival to be their guest blogger. I have added the blog … More
A new guest blog posts page
One of the privileges of writing this blog is inviting others to write guest blog posts. I have collected these … More
A list of found poems
As the holiday season continues I repost this list of various found poems that I have made over the … More
August, by Tove Jansson
As the summer holidays take over I am re-posting the odd blog post from my archive. To celebrate the start … More
Open letter to Ted Hughes (LentBlog27)
Dear Ted Hughes You probably won’t remember me. I wrote to you before, in the summer of 1998. I did … More
