Category Archives: Uncategorized

Lent 21: Child

I want to share two poems by Sylvia Plath, because I like the optimism in an image they both share. One of them, I’ve actually shared before, here, but I merely linked to it elsewhere. So, now, I will reproduce … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lent 20: Psoriasis

The cover of Sarah Maguire’s fourth collection, The Pomegranates of Kandahar, is striking: a collection of explosive devices at what I assume is a young boy’s feet. The titular Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, once the famous … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Lent 19: Before the Wind

Kathleen Jamie says of her collection The Tree House: “when asked what I write about, I like to reply that ‘about’ is the wrong word, it suggests the wrong relationship. I prefer to say ‘from’ or ‘toward’, or occasionally ‘through’. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Lent 18: 1981

In the PBS Bulletin in which Colette Bryce’s collection The Full Indian Rope Trick was recommended (Winter 2004), her comments contained some excellent thoughts and quotes about poetry. It is with genuine admiration that I include extracts from them here: … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Lent 17: Piano Lesson

I don’t even own a copy of Eva Salzman’s New & Collected book, Double Crossing yet, but I enjoyed this poem about playing music (badly) and the start of summer so much that I wanted to share it. I suspect … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Lent 16: Salvage

The title of Jane Draycott’s The Night Tree refers to a lighthouse, whose reaching beams of light are likened to petals or branches. By the lighthouse keepers, the sea is described as “a forest, our blades / cutting through like … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Lent 15: On The Layout of a Ventricle

Ruth Padel’s The Soho Leopard is an interesting collection. I’ve written about it before – its four sections and it’s first poem which fits into none of them. Padel’s grandmother was Charles Darwin’s granddaughter, and I love how this family … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Lent 12: Winter’s Tale

I have all of Duffy’s adult collections, several of her books of children’s poetry, and a lot of her edited anthologies. My first taste of her work was from her fifth collection The World’s Wife, which to this day is … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Below the line: introduction part one

In May, inspired by Liveotherwise, I intend to attempt to live “below the line” by spending no more than £1 on day on food and drink, in consideration of the 1.4 billion people worldwide who live on this or less. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Lent poetry challenge: quarter done

Hey look, I said I’d do something for a fixed period of time, and a quarter of the way in, I’m still achieving as intended. Go me! Can I do the same again, and again, and again, to get to … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments