I love poetry and I have always had a passion for light verse. I believe that a good comic poem is one of life's delights. Along with comedy, rhyme and rhythm can be so pleasurable, soothing, exciting and satisfying all at once, when you hit the sweet spot.
But equally, very little in this life is trivial - so I also have a lot of time for the issues that have troubled philosophers and writers for millennia. Existential themes come through strongly in my poems, often via the limbs of the natural world and rolling words and letters like blood through their insides.
I enjoy experimenting with sensory perception, sound and form, leading to many poems that touch on synaesthesia, and rely heavily on assonance and alliteration. With a background in languages I love weaving hidden stories of etymologies and cultural associations; building micropoetic echoes and linguistic patterns into my poems that may not be entirely obvious at first glance. Jacques Prevert, Roald Dahl, Blake, Sartre and Larkin are strong influences.
The themes in my work are varied but I draw much of my inspiration from nature. I often compose poems in my head while walking or running with my dog. So wherever there's a strong metre, it's often down to the beat of our feet as we trot the footpaths of Hampshire!
2018 update
In 2018 my poem 'i, scarab' will be featured in 'Some Cannot Be Caught: The Emma Press book of Beasts' - an anthology of animal poems.
A Turn for the Verse
Since 2016 I have had a column in the Blackwater Buzz, a local magazine, where I share an original (often comic) poem each month.
100 poems in 100 days
While I've always written poetry on and off, the past few years had been a decidedly 'off' period. I gave my poetic side a jumpstart by writing a poem a day for a hundred days in the spring of 2015. Rain or shine, inspired or not, I did indeed churn out 100 poems, and I felt much more fulfilled, filtered the world through different eyes, and felt a huge sense of achievement by the end of it. And while only two or three were really decent, it made me realise that if I was going to develop creatively I had to make time for doing each and every day. So I've kept it up (albeit not quite at that pace!) ever since.
My poems
I don't like sharing my poems widely online as it means they become 'previously published', and that means I can't submit them to many pamphlets, journals etc. However due to popular demand I'll share some of them here. These are mainly already in the public domain - i.e. I've shared them on social media or read them at events. I would be delighted if you wanted to share them or read them at your own events - all I ask is that you credit me as the author 🙂
Gold Rush
A poem about love and relationships growing
Poem for our Wedding
A light hearted verse written for my sister and her husband, read at their wedding ceremony in 2016
Where does a butterfly go?
On loss and memory
Southend Pier
For Grandma's funeral
Thoughts on Autumn
A comic study of British autumnal traditions and weather
Sandcastles
A more serious poem for my sister's wedding ceremony
Flyways
Briefly, a flock of geese fly overhead
Tea for two
A light hearted take on austerity and food waste in Britain