around the headstoneof one who died at twenty:wind-puffed primrosesThis haiku of mine, published in Presence 56, resulted from a trip a couple of late-Februarys ago to Sheepleas, a nature reserve maintained by Surrey Wildlife Trust between West Horsley and East Horsley. The easiest access to Sheepleas is via the track beside St Mary’s church, the… Continue reading Sheepleas
The information
Not for the first time I found myself the other day nodding with recognition at a post by Matthew Stewart on his ever-readable blog Rogue Strands. One important aspect of his ruminations is that he asks questions about poetry today, but he doesn’t purport to have all the answers – and let’s face it, who… Continue reading The information
One Hand Clapping
I’m very pleased to have a poem as part of the latest issue of the excellent One Hand Clapping journal, and in some august company too. Given the pay-off of my poem, it seems very appropriate that this is where the poem should have found its home.
On coincidence
At Christmas 2019, I, and then Lyn, had a hideous virus the symptoms of which were exactly the same as the classic symptoms of Covid-19, including loss of taste and smell. Whether or not we, like many others who seem to have had Covid symptoms a couple of months before it was supposedly first detected… Continue reading On coincidence
January Reading
Work’s been madly busy, so I’ve had little time for reading, but what I have read, usually at bedtime, has been tremendous. First, I worked my way through Arnold Bennett’s Journals, covering the years from 1896, shortly after his 29th birthday, to September 1929, two years before his premature death. They give periodic insights into his theory… Continue reading January Reading
OPOI review of N.S. Thompson’s Ghost Hands
Here’s my latest OPOI review for the ever-excellent Sphinx. There are some cracking reviews of what sound like cracking pamphlets on there at the moment, e.g. Ramona Herdman on Cliff Yates, Mat Riches on Martin Stannard, and plenty more besides, so fill your boots.
Snow Biz
When I start my weekly Sunday run, at 9.33, it’s just starting to snow. I presume, though, that it will be nothing more than the lightest, icing-sugar dusting. It hasn’t snowed properly in this corner of north-east Surrey / south-west London for about six years, but down it comes. To run through it is a… Continue reading Snow Biz
Bloody politics
After this week, it’s hard to discuss anything but politics on some level: chiefly, that failed coup incited by the supposed Leader of the Free World and put down with considerably less lethal force and speed than last year’s Black Lives Matter protests were; but there’s barely any moral high ground here in England where… Continue reading Bloody politics
On the haiku of Thomas Powell
New Year’s Eve saw the publication, by Snapshot Press, of Thomas Powell’s debut collection of haiku, Clay Moon. I was fortunate to read the book in manuscript and honoured to be invited to write an endorsement. I’ve watched Powell develop into a haiku poet of distinction and skill, who in particular writes beautiful nature haiku.… Continue reading On the haiku of Thomas Powell
Hibernation
No thorough end-of-year review for me, as much because my memory of what I’ve done and what I read in 2020 is scratchy at best. The comparatively giddy days of January to early March, pre-Covid, seem as though they happened years ago. I certainly don’t have 2020 vision.If I had to choose a couple of… Continue reading Hibernation
