There was such an abundance of cheer last week that I ran out of room, so here's the overflow:1. Thanks to the Lovely Fiona I have a new website. It is the product of technical wizardry & much patience (plus the home page sports an ironic Byronic picture of yours truly, windswept in Whitby).
2. This Friday 17th Oct sees the official launch of The Purpose of Your Visit. 7.30 pm at Bank St Arts, 32 - 40 Bank St, Sheffield S1 2DS. I'll be reading alongside Michael Laskey and Pam Thompson.
3.Cathy Grindrod (former Derbyshire PL) and I were in Chesterfield Library last Friday for a brilliant book-based event to mark World Mental Health Day. We played Poetry Bingo with an impressively creative audience, who collaborated on the poems featured below.
Seven Things I Like About Autumn
Chestnut leaves changing to yellow.
Frost crisp in the air.
Spiky shells scattering.
Children in woolly hats and scarves - pink, orange.
Acorns snug in their pods.
Wind whistling up the fireplace.
The promise of snow on car windows -
white, vanishing.
Seven Things I Will Always Remember
16 July 1973, Northern General Hospital, Emma.
A psychiatric ward, occasionally sympathetic.
Easter 1960, the sun shining for me.
The empty house when he left.
Disneyland Paris, with Mickey Mouse.
The day I left Ireland, tables and chairs on the Liverpool streets.
My dad holding me safe to the saddle,
letting me go.
2 comments:
Just been reading "The Purpose of your Visit" instead of doing things I ought to be doing (like getting up). Congratulations on a very moving collection of poems. Really enjoyed yesterdays entertaining and thought provoking evening at the Laureates Reading event at Buxton Library. My mum, having now seen you three times is one of your greatest fans!
Best wishes
Christine B
Thanks Christine - much appreciated.
all the best
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