I have been away for the summer. We went to Florida. Yes, it was fantastic. I am very grateful for having such a wonderful time. There’s just a “slight” problem with the wind-down and relaxation. I am now back in action and putting back in place all of the habits and rituals that make my … Read more
Time for another Guest post. This time a new Guest Collaboration, a collaboration between two colleagues who have experience of working in the public sector. The collaboration arose from workshops with a Writer in Residence with whom they worked last year. The writers appear as The Renegade Poets – feedback welcome: The Minister for Re-invention stepped … Read more
My latest creative project is morphing into something quite different. It began as a poetry sequence. Since 1985 I have been returning to the character called Blue every few years and writing about him. He is a kind of anti-hero crossed with a detective from a Raymond Chandler novel and a blues singer. I have … Read more
It begins like this, yes, a small kiss then everything comes into gentle focus each twist of the lens just a speck of dust, then we must remember why we are here, set out in previous lives Sometimes the external structures which we place on things can really help us to be more creative. … Read more
“the more willing I was to hang out in the unknown and show up with a clean slate, an empty bucket, and a blank piece of paper, the more likely it was that something fresh and new would come through me and out into the world. ” Michael Neill Remarkable to realise sometimes, but just … Read more
What’s the point? Where’s the essence of all that we held Just as we stood on the balcony watching the kestrel, wings going body stopping eye sharp watching and then drop… Blue in black, clothes as a backdrop Stop what you can drop whilst you can …and that’s the point taking the essence of 28 … Read more
It’s that conversation over a cup of coffee when the ideas are flowing and you are struggling to keep up taking notes of them so that they don’t vanish. Collaborating with others can be a real spark to create new ideas and open up to diverse creative approaches that might not have otherwise come to … Read more
This is a guest post by Su Fowler-Johnson. I’ve been talking to Su about blogging and kept asking why she didn’t blog. This is the result of my gently nagging for a guest post. Perhaps there will be more, and just perhaps Su will start her own blog soon. You can find out more about … Read more
As promised then, without pause or hesitation. Here is a poem from the third sequence of poems about Blue. In fact, going even further than that, here are two poems. These are the final two poems in the collection. So, it is from this point that I spring forward to the new collection. The indulgence … Read more
I wrote about plans for a new sequence of poems here. Over the next three posts I will be sharing a poem from each of the first three sequences about Blue. This one is from the first sequence ‘sharp blue / breath’. The title, ‘calling card’, is an oblique reference to a line from … Read more