Tracks, by Tomas Tranströmer

Tracks   2 am: moonlight. The train has stopped out in the middle of the plain. Far away, points of … More

Reading Wallace Stevens

‘I’ve been reading Wallace Stevens.’ ‘So?’ ‘I thought you’d be pleased.’ ‘I don’t get it.’ ‘Wallace Stevens!’ ‘I know who … More

Ten new poems

‘I’ve got some good news,’ the book says. ‘I’ve just written ten new poems.’ ‘Wow, that’s great,’ I say. ‘Are … More

Your worst book

‘I’m depressed,’ the book says. ‘We can’t both be depressed,’ I say. ‘One of us needs to function.’ ‘Well it’s not … More

To the Mincing Poets

  Last Sunday I attended the last ever group meeting and reading of the Mincing Poets, in Exeter. A classic … More

Losing touch

‘I’m tired.’ ‘You’re always saying that.’ ‘But I am.’ ‘Really? Is that what’s really going on?’ ‘I don’t know where … More

A few days to read

and James, it’s taken me a few days to read A Few Days, but I have loved every line, especially … More

and (Dear James)

and (Dear James) it occurs to me now, just thinking out loud, that in a way Kenneth and Frank actually were … More

Open letter to James Schuyler

Dear James (may I call you James?) Though it’s been a while (at least ten years, maybe more) it feels as … More

Go-to poet?

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the ‘poets I go back to’ idea, that I first came across in … More

Open letter: in memory of Janet Fisher

And though I only met you once, your influence on me is massive, or should that be was I don’t … More

Alone, by Tomas Tranströmer

Alone I One evening in February I came near to dying here.The car skidded sideways on the ice, outon the … More

No one you know

‘You look upset.’ ‘I am upset,’ I say. ‘Well, not so much upset as disappointed.’ ‘Want to talk about it?’ … More

Gazing out of someone else’s window

‘Where have you been?’ the book says. ‘Where have you been?’ ‘Here, waiting for you,’ the book says. ‘Working.’ ‘Same … More

Breathing Space July, by Tomas Tranströmer

Breathing Space July   The man who lies on his back under huge trees is also up in them. He … More

Lifesaving Poems: Marie Howe’s ‘Prayer’

Concluding this mini-series of poems I shared in my reading at the Greenbelt festival last weekend, here is Prayer by Marie … More

Lifesaving Poems: WN Herbert’s ‘The Black Wet’

Continuing in this mini-series of poems I shared in my reading at the Greenbelt festival last weekend, here is The … More

Lifesaving Poems: Sharon Olds’s ‘Looking at Them Asleep’

Continuing in this mini-series of poems I shared in my reading at the Greenbelt festival last weekend, here is Looking … More