Back on Crete. Back to sea swims & cold beach showers; to morning coastal hikes and foraging for inspiration in the mountains, waves & sunsets of this magical place. So much of the writing work has nothing to do with creating in a literal sense, instead it’s about clearing space & believing I have the right to do so; it’s about saying no & not feeling guilty when declining things that will eat into the writing time but won’t add…
I am done with narrowing potential / gifting ‘I should’ to the water I watch the bubbles leave her mouth as she is swallowed / when the sun is liquid in the sky I am sanddunes, granular / when rainclouds enfold, I expand into the water-cycle / this is what prevents grief from hardening into arrogance / shape-shifting I lay claim to no form (I am every form) / this is how I return / as the sun sets &…
Dear friends – just a heads up that I’ve got two events today: 2pm at Oriel Davies to celebrate the wonderful words that came in for their writing competition and to hear the winning and commended pieces. I loved reading them all as co-judge with the wonderful poet Chris Kinsey. Then tonight 8pm at Theatr Clwyd I’ll be supporting the utterly fabulous Hollie McNish as she tours the U.K. with her book Plum. Also loving my new Freddies of Pinewood…
I reach for myself / submit to lunacy & intuit / in this place I am naked / in this place I unravel / in this place I bleed / when darkness threatens / my womb births stars / when did I let myself forget this? / the moon is vulnerable in her brilliance / silvery light hums over fingertips / I tie these blindfolds to soak tears / I tie these blindfolds because I do not trust my eyes…
control: when I see you in dreams / your grief is a moon harrying oceans / on black nights I am weather patterns stuttering across the sky / it is exhausting to be shifting in this way // I can no longer be the rivers of your tears / can no longer be the dam or funnel you towards beauty // I have built endless canopies as shelter from this lunar gaze / still, interference weeps like white noise onto…
connection: I have constructed & dismantled myself over & over / so that I might understand why I exist / I have sung songs that were not mine (they are all mine) / I have endured bitter winters evergreen / terrified to let needles drop / I have shed bark & tossed my mind into the universe / where others sought depth / I was the shallows // I have tumbled into planets & returned chastised / the voice of…
there is a choice we make / even as we are tumbled by ocean waves / even as currents unravel our resolve / we can be lighthouse or rock / sea-foam or anchor / navigating in circles around each other / we scupper ourselves on distant horizons / if you saw me drowning would you save me? // all of these tiny misunderstandings fall like raindrops / deliberate & relentless / I am soaked with I’m sorries / cannot take…
I am shedding lives / sloughed off & let float out to sea / I cannot tell you that this is who I am / only that this is who I am right now // I have folded myself into every conceivable shape to suit the expectations of others / & still I was not enough // when finally I wash up naked on this shore / the sun burns away self-loathing / I watch it lift like fog as…
some days feel like crisis / tumbling through an existential fog / where meanings are keys & I do not understand the lock / do not understand what is being said / do not understand my own thoughts / I wish for beautiful things / & realise I cannot recognise love / cannot give love / until I know the beauty of myself / today I discover Iris & think on her three petals: Love, Creation, Ceremony / these are…
Such sad news to hear concrete poet Childe Roland (Peter Meilleur) passed away this week. He was a genius in every sense of the word: bold, inventive & unapologetic. Approaching poetry & language with an insatiable, child-like inquisitiveness, he plotted elaborate excursions across the vast white expanse of the page, and it was a joy to set out on explorations with him from time to time. Any room became a stage in his presence, and the people in that room,…