Monday 3 November 2014

Degas & Thomas



DEGAS  
The Dancing Class
by R.S.Thomas


Pretending he keeps
an aviary; looking no higher
than their feet; listening
for their precise fluttering.

And they surround him, flightless
birds in taffeta
plumage, picking up words
gratefully, as though they were crumbs.







Third time round, the immediate impact of the poem lessens, I find I don't adore the conclusion.  But I am glad to have got hold of a copy of Between Here and Now even with B&W prints of the paintings described, the exercises are sometimes brilliantly illuminating.  Also, compare William Carlos Williams and WH Auden on Brueghel's Icarus.

Online

Three poems taken up in the last six weeks or so,The Nones made a sensational appearance in Leaves of Ink 14 September, and two poems to be posted in the Spring edition of Message in a bottle (Guildford Line, Dawn's Eastern Fabric, the usual current and ancient, distorted learning, and the tone here and there off the cuff). I like having poems accepted, but can't determine which is the best medium to promote them/me - I suppose it depends entirely on the quality of the wine.

Sunday 20 July 2014

Dead Ink

Deserter has been posted on Dead Ink Books with an illustration that is entirely apt (unlike this one). I am very happy to see it online, laid out: and the poetry editor "loving it". Me too.  The source of this poem was a dream, and I couldn't say how wide or specific the references are. The divisions are many but the nature of it is sympathetic. Any comments, twittering or thunderings, entirely welcome.  A good month for my poetic CV. 

Friday 11 July 2014

Judge James


The judge’s report for the SLQ May Quarterly competition is posted.  Now my part is done, any competitor who finds this blog and feels aggrieved, wants to tell me to stuff it: post a comment by all means.  Though not much chance of an appeal.

By the way, to any poets starting out alone, I would recommend signing up to
http://www.writeoutloud.net Post poems, get feedback, share comment, and there is a good listings page for anyone who wants to read out, or recite their work - and we all should.


Lastly, on two poems, the writer of Ms Jelani might want to bid for a bardic chair in Glos. calls for a poem on flood, link, and on the Ghost of a Flea, a coincidence, I know that pointy head! He's by my desk, questioning his empty chalice.