Good at anything

It is really hard to be really good at anything... thinking of athletics and poetry. The step from fun-run to club runner is huge. And, from club to national team is almost inconceivable. In any sport. Art is different. The rules are unwritten. The class boundaries, permeable. Tastes change. The courage it takes to set … Continue reading Good at anything

Foldy Things

I have been making "Foldy Things": small pamphlets, one A6 (two-fold from A4) and one A7 on light card. The current versions of these are in print and on soundcloud, and posted here with links, below. I have realised I need a QR code... Looking for another story Bringing the timber home. A poem is … Continue reading Foldy Things

Doing it at all

When so many, or at least some, do so much, so well, or well enough why do I bother? There is the doing it as well as the best. But, is there also the Bo Jo bother of not quite working hard enough? Literal and allegorical: did too much instant karma get me? Wanting to … Continue reading Doing it at all

Making models

Phil asked me, as some have done before, what do I want to do with my poetry. Besides bring in a new age of peace and prosperity with compassion for all life, of course. And, yes, I do want that, but I do two things. I make models of the world as it is, and … Continue reading Making models

Recording in a studio

Yesterday I booked two hours at our community recording studio, Soundworks, at Blackbird Leys Community Centre. I recorded nine poems. Hear them on SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/thelastpoet. https://soundcloud.com/thelastpoet. I am getting used to SoundCloud and what it can and cannot do. In the studio, for two hours I got about 18 minutes of poetry recorded, listened and … Continue reading Recording in a studio

Recovering thelastpoet

I have been thelastpoet on Soundcloud for more than 10 years. I am planning now to start using the name and the space. I am negotiating for some time in a local studio. Meanwhile I have uploaded three new pieces. Words only. Rough and ready. Enjoy thelastpoet. thelastpoet · Another story in Ukraine thelastpoet · … Continue reading Recovering thelastpoet

Getting it out there

I was recently asked what I want to do with my poetry. It may once have been self-evident, if only to me. Now it no longer is. What is the point? Why do I do it? To increase empathy: mine and others'. To reduce suffering and increase pleasure. To do this, I make models of … Continue reading Getting it out there

Oxford Poetry Library

A crowded evening at This Is Just To Say: spoken word open mic: about 50 people all told: 16 readers + a guest poet, Em Pritchard. Em was great: finely observed, personal and well tuned pieces about life in between. I read last in the first half. In the audience were two of the poets … Continue reading Oxford Poetry Library

Feral Angels: wild

Tom Hirons runs the regular on-line Feral Angels Poetry Cafe. (https://tomhirons.com/events/feral-angels/feral-angels-poetry-cafe-february-26th-2023) This week the theme was: How does wildness exhibit itself in form and use of language - in how we put words on a page? That wildness we are pointing to, we are trying to bring that wildness into our poetry. What wildness? To find it, first ask, where can you be wild in your life?

Small cosmos: virtual hypertext

The magic in poetry is that not only is a poem LIKE a cosmos, it can BE, maybe simply, IS a cosmos of reader, hearer, speaker, writer, words, sounds, spaces, histories, intentions, interpretations, meanings, etc. Every poem carries its shadow and illuminates third spaces. There is a lot of dark matter under and behind and dark energy throughout.