Monthly Archives: March 2012

Lent 31: Centaur

Today’s poem is from a collection I don’t own, and I’m unlikely to, as it appears to feature pets quite heavily. I am not into pets, not at all. Blame allergies or cat scratches or dog bites or whatever – … Continue reading

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Lenten poetry challenge: three quarters done!

How about it, I’ve got three quarters of the way through Lent and I haven’t let myself down in achieving my Lenten poetry challenge, not even once! Not yet, anyway. This was, being entirely honest, all down to the discovery … Continue reading

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Lent 30: There’s Birds In My Story

Lenontia Flynn’s third collection, Profit and Loss, is in three parts – the first part is based on the idea of rooms or houses holding our histories – specifically family histories, with incredibly personal treatments of her father’s advancing Alzheimers … Continue reading

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World Poetry Day 2012

It seems a little superfluous for me to post about World Poetry Day since it is occurring during my epically long Lenten Poetry challenge. To mark the day, inspired by the Poetry Book Society sharing this poem by John Osborne … Continue reading

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Lent 29: Moon Hymn

Inside the jacket of Alice Oswald’s third collection, Woods etc. it says, quite aptly, “Her poems ponder the most elemental of props and portents: water, stone, a wood, the wind, moon, stars, deep space. [Her] theme is nature, but her … Continue reading

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Lent 28: Fathers

I’m sharing another fatherhood poem here, simply because the subject interests me. Not fatherhood itself – the treatment of it in society, culture & the media. Whatever they are. Joanne Limburg’s second collection, Paraphernalia, has many poems on the subject … Continue reading

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Lent 27: Promise

Jackie Kay was inspired to write much of her fourth collection, Life Mask, after having a bronze bust of herself made by Michael Snowden for Edinburgh Park, and meeting her Nigerian birth father for the first time. Her mixed heritage … Continue reading

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Lent 26: Guest post on Frank O’Hara

My lovely friend Vanessa Napolitano has kindly provided this guest post for today! Many of my favourite poets and poems have been recommended my friends, or have been discovered through anthologies or magazines or reading for fun. Frank O’Hara was … Continue reading

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Lent 25: Newly Born Twins

Helen Farish’s first collection is called Intimates, and it is indeed intimate. The poems of love and relationships have recurring feeling of “thank goodness it’s over” (“I’m trying to pinpoint when / the accident of your humanity occurred.” and “Being … Continue reading

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Lent 24: Civilization

In recognition of current news regarding same sex marriage in the UK, here’s a poem on the topic from Ian Duhig. It’s from his collection The Speed of Dark from early 2007, so it’s not the most current of treatments … Continue reading

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