National Poetry Day – 2 October – My Involvement

For National Poetry Day, which is 2nd October 2014, I have been invited by TFL Covent Garden station to participate in their poetry event, by reading a self-penned poem.

Today (22nd September) I recorded my poem “Regrets of the Dying” for the theme of “Remembrance”, to be broadcast on a continual loop with approx 20 other poetry recitals, at Covent Garden station which is on the Piccadilly line.

I’ve also been invited to join a TFL poetry event at the East Piazza of Covent Garden (outside the Transport Museum), to perform my poem to the Covent Garden masses.   This will be sometime between 11.30 and 12.30 on 2nd October.

If you’re able to come along to hear me read and lend your support, it will, as always, be much appreciated.  For those of you who are unable to either hear me at Covent Garden station, or see me perform at the East Piazza, I plan to post an audio and hopefully some photographs from the day, after the event.

Thanks to The Poetry Society and Covent Garden staff (especially Pele and Jonathan) for inviting me to participate in this exciting event.

“Big Woman Ways” (for Scarlett) – a poem

“Big Woman Ways” (for Scarlett)

The child is maturing
She’s beginning to grow
her big woman ways
Are starting to show.
The clothes that she wears
And the mask on her face
Applied with such seriousness
It’s all that she craves.
The boys that she fancies
And the friends that she hates
For liking the same boys
Well that’s her mistake.
For when she’s a woman
She’ll come to fast learn
That losing a friend
To a man, gets you burned.
The lessons of life
Are carved from these years
So choose your friends wisely
And reject all your fears.
For nothing in life
is as bad as it seems,
The years mold us gently
and we roll with the tears.
They form us and shape us
Into warriors of life
They make us strong women
Friends, partners and wives.
They carve out the way
To deal with life’s troubles
And then pay it back
Into something that’s doubled.
So put on mascara
Be bolshy, be bold
Be a big woman
And let life unfold

New book – Perceptions

I’m delighted to announce that my second collection of poetry is now available in Paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon Click here for more details.

“Perceptions” is a very personal collection, touching on the my own view of the world, observed from different standing points; geographically , chronologically, and emotionally.

Diverse themes, of love and death, duplicity and friendship, places and seasons sit comfortably side-by-side as they span across decades, locations, and memories right up to the current day.

The first section of the collection develops the themes explored in my first book “Observations”, moving onto poetry about my favourite cities, finishing with seasonal poetry with a contribution from Scottish poet, Samantha Reynolds.

I hope you enjoy it.

 

“Twitterati” – a poem

Observing life
One hundred and forty characters 
at a time
A soundbite for an emotion,
Thought or deed
Follow, Unfollow
RT
Block/Delete
For thoughtless words
From total strangers
View into the spyhole of my life
And form an opinion
based on a short sentence
Come, observe
Judge
There are no “likes” here
Be a friend.
Form a group,
Of like minded souls
With similar interests.
Friends from countries a far
Time zones shattered
Through the complicity
Of duplicity.
So give me a minute or three
To interact with strangers on my PC
Internet friends
Who are stranger than me
Avoiding the rubbish
On my TV

 

September’s Dawn – a poem

Septembers dawn comes all too soon
The punctuation mark of the summer
Brings freshly sharpened pencils
And fresh pressed uniforms
Which will only last until Christmas
The leaves are still green
but will change to shades
Of autumns hues
Marking the chilly death of summer
However great our hopefulness
Russetts, golds and reds
Will mark the passing of the sun
Bringing foggy days and early nights