Ignore everyone, absorb everything

During the mad phase, when everything was a tweet or a share or a retweet, one of my favourite discoveries … More

Lifesaving Poems: Myra Schneider’s ‘Goulash’

Goulash A crucial ingredient is the right frame of mind so abandon all ideas of getting on. Stop pedalling, dismount, … More

A few days

The afternoon was drawing to a close when I knew I had hit the wall. On its own terms there … More

Lifesaving Poems: Charles Wright’s ‘After Reading Tu Fu, I Go Outside to the Dwarf Orchard’

After Reading Tu Fu, I Go Outside to the Dwarf Orchard   East of me, west of me, full summer. … More

The man kept piling things on

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

Not on speaking terms

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

The burnt horizon

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

Guest posts and summer reading

As I did last year, I will be taking a break from uploading new posts to this blog over August. … More

A review of Lifesaving Poems

I am deeply grateful to Dave Russell of Survivors’ Poetry for his review of Lifesaving Poems in the current edition of Poetry … More

Guest Post: How I put The Art of Falling together, by Kim Moore

How I put The Art of Falling together In May 2012 my first pamphlet If We Could Speak Like Wolves … More

Lifesaving Poems: Michel Quoist’s ‘Thank you Lord, thank you’

Thank you Lord, thank you. Thank you for all the gifts that you have given me today, Thank you for … More

Guest Blog Post: Don’t Think About A White Horse, by Kate Bowles

Don’t Think About A White Horse   Coming closer, he turns out to be you – or nearly. Once you … More

The missing poet

I have been at a thing. Poets I love and trust were there. We laughed. We invented scurrilous Twitter-profiles. It … More

Poetry society

I am minding my own business, putting out some rubbish, when it happens. An elderly man I know, a neighbour, … More

Except the Americans

As I said recently, I have been moving. Not away, not abroad. But here, within the space that already exists, … More

Inside Lifesaving Poems 5

An artist needs not so much an audience, as to feel a need to answer, a promise to respond. Robert … More

Inside Lifesaving Poems 4

I have been moving. Not moving house, moving within it. Stuff has come with me, some of it has vanished … More

Open letter to Peter Sansom on reading Careful What You Wish For

Dear Peter Cover-to-cover and back-to-back twice, as I do, once before sleeping, then between zeds on a train woken to Tickets, … More