I read from my latest book, my debut poetry collection Remembering Blue at my local pub, the Elephant & Castle, here in Lewes UK – it was a lovely event with a great and receptive audience. Luckily, or not, depending on your opinion, someone was there to video my performance. In all humility, I think it’s not too bad, actually it’s a lot better than I dared predict.
In the first set there is a collection of short poems, beginning with a haiku. Here are poems about some of my obsessions, some strange experiences and other things that have delighted or frightened me.
In my second set, I read poems some of them that can be seen as tributes or at least portraits of people or works that I admire or, at worst, have always been interested in, American poet, Frank O’Hara, singer/ . songwriter Joni Mitchell, the composer of the opera Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini, the modernist Portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa, William the Conqueror’s mate, William de Warrene, Vergil’s Dido of Carthage, – they probably say more about me that about them.
There is one last section – one poem that ends and, also in a way, begins this my first poetry collection. My poem October 30th 2008 is a record and a meditation on the day when I almost died from a brain haemorrhage. It’s not depressing, I believe, actually, it’s full of optimism. Give it a listen.
It is published by Ward Wood Publishing – ways to buy it are detailed to the right of this blog.