With just one week to go until the launch of my new poetry pamphlet, To Catch a Poem, I would like to dedicate this final reading to my partner, in life and in rhyme, Nick Reeves, without whom there would be no EIF. Thank you for believing in me from the very beginning, Nick! https://youtu.be/3PD0mvjLX9g... Continue Reading →
COP 28 (The Sultan’s Got His Hat On)
The Sultan's got his hat on,(Hip-hip-hip, hooray!)his presidential hat onat the conference today And we've all got the gas onthat's how it's going to stayit's freezing here, but have no fearthe heat is on its way... If all developed nationscan have their wicked waythey'll get the poorer nations hooked on oil and gas - hooray! There's... Continue Reading →
‘Watershed’ – reading from To Catch A Poem
Today's reading is a poem called 'Watershed.' I explain a bit about the poem's composition in the video below. I have received the proof of the poetry pamphlet now, and am very excited about the look and feel of the finished product! Watch this space for more readings and background in the run-up to launch... Continue Reading →
‘Winter’s Margin:’ reading from To Catch a Poem
Today, I would like to present a short reading from my forthcoming pamphlet, To Catch a Poem. I wrote 'Winter's Margin' around this time last year, and, once again, it seems appropriate to the season. There are references to Wordsworth's 'Intimations of Immortality’ and Blake's 'Book of Thel’ woven into the poem. https://videopress.com/v/jEndZHml?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
A poem I wish I could write
You are a poem I wish I could writeby the light of the moon, while you’re holding me tight;in the sweet hours of dawn, huddled close to your skinthis is how we begin, this is how we begin… You are the magic on Midwinter's eveand the prayer for redemption in which we believein the darkest... Continue Reading →
Like Fire
Like fireLike flame Like waterLike breathing Like faithLike hopeLikeSomething to believe in Like ashLike rubbleLikeRuins of a city Like slaughter Like laughterLikeDrowning, absolutely Cease fireCease firePleaseEvacuate civilians This ireLike fireHas alreadyMurdered millions
Park Broom
The journey seems to take almost forever despite the fast-flowing currents of the water from Wetheral, to Park Broom down the river where, in your wake, wandering, walks a daughtertrying to piece the afterlife together from Wetheral, to Park Broom down the river. Thirty-three years is long enough to wonder about the current which carried you underBroomy Hill to... Continue Reading →
The Howling
The children to feed;all the bills still to payand the howling. The emails to answerthe things I should sayand the howling. "Remember tomorrowforget yesterday"says the howling: "You carry such sorrow?Then give it awayto the howling." Wind, sound, surrenderthe trees' dreadful swayto the howling Whisper, "Wake with the soundof a pure poetry"called the howling. With thanks... Continue Reading →
Word Rich, Cash Poor
Word rich, cash poor: some kind of way to live,don’t want that mental load weighing me down;to feel I have a world of wealth to give,yet possess little I might call my own. A whisper in the heart blooms on the lipsand greets the air in unforced exhalation, inspires the hand to flex the fingertipsin Hallelujah... Continue Reading →
Advance Review of ‘All Grown Up Now’
With three weeks to go until the release of Kim M. Russell's poetry pamphlet, All Grown Up Now, I bring you an advance review from Freya Pickard, author of The Kaerling. "A landscape of scents""Kim M Russell has a distinctive voice in this auto-biographical collection of poems. What struck me most were the olfactory descriptions... Continue Reading →