Chinese language translation by Poetry Lab Shanghai
It is nothing short of a thrill to have my anti-war poem, ‘Heart Of Power‘, translated into the Chinese Language by the Poetry Lab Shanghai. I’m very excited by the idea that my work could be read in a different language, opening it up to new audiences. The poem is a very simple one, written in a wistfully ironic and reflective tone about the historic narrative of war and conquest, and contrasting this with the stark and tragic cost of conflict. In spite of such cost, there always seems to be someone in the world who will persist with that narrative and claim that warfare, to conquer and subjugate, is a glorious thing. You can read the poem (in both Chinese and English!) in the Summer ’22 Issue of Poetry Lab Shanghai.
‘Heart of Power’ (Chinese Translation, copyright Poetry Lab Shanghai 2022):
‘The Mortal Ash’ and ‘The Shadow Of Mortality’ poems
By strange coincidence, two of my very first poems to receive publication have both been on the subject of mortality. It’s perhaps not the most comfortable subject to deal with, but I think the impetus to write about this came at a time of greater exposure to loss and grief than I’d experienced before, and made me feel more tuned-in to our own mortality and compelled to write about it. It may even partly explain why I began writing poetry in the first place.
‘The Mortal Ash’ is a poem that was prompted by news of the death of an ex-girlfriend (Image: Anna-Louise. Pexels)
‘The Mortal Ash’
The poem is filled with sadness for me, as it reflects on the death of an ex-girlfriend. In 2021 I stumbled on the news, via social media, that her ashes were to be strewn at a remembrance ceremony, and it transpired that she had died 6 months previously. Shocked, and stunned by this chance discovery of her untimely death, I decided to locate the cemetery and went there the next day to pay my respects in private.
It was heart-breaking to see the ashes of the lovely person that I knew, who had so much life ahead of her, scattered on a patch of grass in front of me. So, when I returned home I wrote the poem in her memory.
It seems as though we grow more aware and sensitive to our own mortality with age and experience (Image: Thorn Yang. Pexels)
The Shadow Of Mortality
This poem reflects more generally on the fragility of the human experience and how we seem to grow more aware and sensitive to our own mortality with age. I suppose the ‘shadow’ is always with us, but looms larger, and in clearer focus, with time and experience. However, the poem also makes the point of how we can use that to help us try to live our best lives.
The poem can be read in The Writer’s Club edition of 9th April 2022.
As anyone who writes and seeks publication of their poetry will tell you; the process of submitting your work to various journals and online ezines can be a test of resolve and commitment. Most people have to endure far more rejections than acceptances and, although a relative newbie to this game, I’d already read about the exploits of others on social media and was, to some extent, prepared for rejection.
I tried to prepare myself for the inevitable “no thanks” or “sorry but we don’t think this is the right fit for us at this time.”, and when those rejections eventually came in, I found that the editors were, thankfully, very sensitive and polite in their approach. However, when you’ve yet to break your duck it’s hard to resist self doubt and I was anxious to get off the mark. It’s all good and well writing poems, but as far as I was concerned, I needed that affirmation from other people in the poetry world that my writing was acceptable, bona fide poetry, to get the nod from an editor that ‘yes, this is ok, and we’re going to publish it‘.
Submitting poems can be a frustrating business! (Image: Suzy Hazelwood. Pexels)
I can’t remember exactly how many “No’s” I had before my first “Yes”, I think it was about 30, but I dealt with it by not dwelling on any of them at all. I just focused on the enjoyment of writing my poems and tried to dismiss each rejection with a shrug of the shoulders. I told myself that perhaps it was something to do with the volume of submissions received; or that the editor was reading mine at a bad time; maybe it was the wrong type of poem for that journal. I was happy to tell myself anything that would allow me to dismiss the rejection in my mind and continue writing – I dread the creativity shackles that would inevitably follow if I thought too carefully about why I get rejections!
When you look at it, it’s a brutal process, but on reading about others going through exactly the same thing, you realise it’s just a part of it, and that you need to hang in there and keep rolling the dice.
(Image: Anna Shvets. Pexels)
My own moment of first acceptance came in March 2022, with the Wildfire Words online ezine run by Howard and Marilyn Timms of Frosted Fire Press. Until 2021, Howard and Marilyn were heavily involved in the organisation of the Cheltenham Poetry Festival , so it was real thrill to have one of my poems accepted and published in their ‘Open Submissions’ section of Wildfire Words.
The poem is called ‘Everyone‘ and I wrote it the previous October after feeling inspired by Brian Cox’s Universe documentary on the BBC. The explanation of how space and time are connected as ‘spacetime’ (in Einstein’s theory of relativity) provided me with the opening motivation and first lines:
“Everywhere is a moment, Every time is a space“.
The inspirational kickstart for the poem came from Brian Cox’s ‘Universe’ documentary for the BBC (Image: Pixabay)
From there it developed as a simple reflection about everything and everyone. I’m so pleased, and indeed grateful, that Howard and Marilyn accepted this poem for their ezine, and I’ve since continued to receive other acceptances elsewhere (as well as rejections of course!), news of which will follow on this blog, so hit the ‘Subscribe’ button below for updates.
Last year, on Saturday 2nd October 2021, I recited some of my poetry for the first time in front of a live audience. It was a daunting experience for me; not just because it involved being on a stage, projecting my voice into a microphone in front of people, but because the words being said were my own creative works and I was nervous about whether they’d be accepted by the audience as bona fide poems! I’d only been writing for a few months so I was very much ‘testing the water’.
The High Wolds Poetry Festival, North Dalton, 2021
The occasion was the High Wolds Poetry Festival, held at North Dalton Village Hall, East Yorkshire, and having entered a poem into the Festival, based on its theme of the ‘Poetry Kitchen‘, I felt it would’ve been remiss not to have accepted the customary invitation from Festival Director Julian Woodford, for me to read my culinary piece on the day (even though the thought of doing so was far from a ‘piece of cake’!). Of course, this invitation was extended to all poets entering work into the Festival, as this is the essence of the event: It’s a wonderful opportunity for anyone who writes poems to get together and share their work with each other and the wider community. Everyone is welcomed and given the chance to have a platform, irrespective of how long they’ve been writing, or whether they’ve been published. For me, this was my first chance to share with an audience and gauge their reaction!
Poets take turns to read their work.
It was an all-day event, and my slot was in the last hour between 6-7pm. There were some excellent poems being read, among which were some from seasoned poets with several collections to their name, so as my turn became imminent, I tried very hard to block out the terrifying thought that I was about to read my poems to these people! Perhaps unsurprisingly, this was a foolish terror, as the audience were very supportive; the whole point of the event being to encourage and promote all kinds of poetry, though I imagine my apprehension was probably shared by many others taking to the stage for the first time.
As the venue was North Dalton, on the Yorkshire Wolds, I decided to read the poem I wrote about nearby Millington Dale, called ‘Blue-Sky Refuge‘ and I also threw in my climate change poem ‘On Beautiful Sky‘ for good measure. My main recital however was ‘Lemon Biscuits‘ reflecting the food-related theme of the Festival, and based on an old recipe from the East Yorkshire area, dating back to 1754. I naturally tend to write according to inspiration rather than prescription, so I had to challenge myself to come up with something especially for the event itself. I resolved to base it on my attempts to bake the said ‘lemon biscuits’ during lockdown; a baking adventure with mixed results! To my great relief, all three poems seemed to be well-received and I left the stage thinking: a) “What on earth possessed me to do that in the first place?” and b) “I might just be able to do that again!“.
One of the best aspects of the Festival though, is that all entrants receive publication (in print!) in The High Wolds Poetry Collection. This means that you immediately become a ‘published poet’ in the anthology, and I think it’s a brilliant way of encouraging people (such as myself) to continue writing. My copy now sits proudly on my bookshelf!
The ‘High Wolds Poetry Collection 2021
‘Lemon Biscuits’
‘Lemon Biscuits’ (illustration by Robin Dermond Horspool).
I would highly recommend The High Wolds Poetry Festival to anyone who writes or enjoys reading or hearing poetry, but particularly to budding poets who have just started writing. It’s such a supportive and encouraging community, and a vital cultural outlet for a quiet rural area such as the Yorkshire Wolds.
I was delighted when the key line from one of my poems ‘On Beautiful Sky‘ was selected to feature as one of twenty four installations around the town of Scunthorpe (North Lincolnshire) from 6th August to 2nd September 2021. It was part of artist Luke Jerram‘s ‘Of Earth and Sky‘ artistic concept, which was being hosted at Scunthorpe by the 2021 Visual Arts Centre .
At the skate park in Manor Park, Scunthorpe, where a line from my poem ‘On Beautiful Sky‘ was used as part of the ‘Of Earth and Sky’ art installation (6 Aug – 2 Sep 2021)
The lines for all of the poems selected were either printed onto pavements or as individual block-lettering, mounted on metal-frames in ‘Hollywood-sign’ fashion. My line was installed in print form at Manor Park in the south of the town, where the young people go skateboarding. This was the first time my work had ever been used by anyone else, so for it to be included in an art installation by such a well-known, international artist, was a real thrill for me. It was great to see the young people at the skate park tracing the wavy line of my words as they wheeled along the half-pipe!
The line “And swear it here on Beautiful Sky” in the middle of the skate park
‘On Beautiful Sky‘ is a poem about the climate crisis and our promise to take action and prevent the kind of catastrophe that is currently predicted by many scientists. The key line for the poem is:
“Believe your promise is not a lie, and swear it here, on Beautiful Sky.”
This is the line that was selected for the art installation, and I think it’s fitting that they chose to situate it in the skate park, where young people gather, and which also overlooks some coal-fired power stations on the horizon. Ultimately, it’s the younger generations who will inherit ownership of the climate problem and they may have the power to succeed where previous generations failed. (View details about the ‘Of Earth and Sky’ installation at Scunthorpe).
The ‘Of Earth and Sky’ concept is a really clever way of engaging and including communities in the production of the artwork, and giving them a sense of ownership in the installation.
I felt the effect of this myself when my poem was included in the project, and it was brilliant to later see that Luke Jerram and everyone at the 2021 Visual Arts Centre were rewarded for their efforts when ‘Of Earth and Sky’ won ‘Best Arts Project‘ at the Hearts For The Arts Awards in 2022. My congratulations to the artist and all of the organisers and staff.
Poet in Verse 