grahamswords1962

For JCC

April 21st Inspired by the nursery rhyme, “There was a man of double deed” we were challenged to write a poem that uses lines that have a repetitive set-up and rhyming couplets. For inspiration, I used this photo of a caterpillar of the Saturniidae Moth (note, there are many references to this being a butterfly,Continue reading “For JCC”

For David, Big T, Audrey and whoever

April 20th Create a traditional Korean Sijo poem. Like the haiku, it has three lines, but the lines are much longer. Typically, they are 14-16 syllables, and optimally each line will consist of two parts – like two sentences, or a sentence of two clauses divided by a comma. In terms of overall structure, aContinue reading “For David, Big T, Audrey and whoever”

Attila the Stockbroker

Shouty, loud, anarchic and brilliant – I could go on casting adjectives around till the sun goes down when asked about Attila. His ability to blend biting sarcasm with right on the edge humour to get over his left-wing political rantings has always had me in awe of the man. Like LKJ and JCC, IContinue reading “Attila the Stockbroker”

Dr. John Cooper Clarke

For anyone who was nurtured by the punk revolution, as was I, the initials JCC are inextricably linked with the high priest of punk poetry. Along with LKJ and Attila the Stockbroker, he made poetry for me, a contemporary art form. His crazy take on life, fused with salient points about the then desperate stateContinue reading “Dr. John Cooper Clarke”

Linton Kwesi Johnson

Linton is one of a triumvirate of poets that opened my eyes to poetry and made me see that it was not all Keats, Shelley, and Byron and that it could connect and resonate with me. In his case, he was aided by the fact that he put his poetry to a dub reggae backingContinue reading “Linton Kwesi Johnson”

A hint of promise

For the first time this year, I spent the weekend away in a field with friends. It was the first one since last summer, when I only managed four times away duing the whole year, when I would normally be doing it three or four times a month, and on into the autumn and evenContinue reading “A hint of promise”

Moaning Minnies

April 19th Today must be moaning Monday, as we were asked to write a humorous rant about pet hates. I figured that limericks are the perfect format for a good old chunter, so I give you this to chew over. There’s an ancient old vegan from Stoke, Who seems like a half decent bloke, ButContinue reading “Moaning Minnies”

Having coffee with Dylan Thomas and others

April 18th Although I was inspired by the title of Susan G. Wooldridge’s book Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words, (a copy of which I’ve now ordered) I went slightly off prompt. I’m currently reading The 20th Century in Poetry, which I highly recommend, and have reached the post-war period where poets where questioning theContinue reading “Having coffee with Dylan Thomas and others”

Lunasea

NaPoWriMo prompt for April 17th, write about the moon. Each line length is indicating the phases of the moon. NothingThen a sliverA silver sliver filling a black cupA jet black, star backed milk filled cupAsteroid achne mutilated smiling faceMaddening power keep seas in placeIt starts to drain, like lunar rainIn the day the sameIt remains,Continue reading “Lunasea”

Jamp

April 16th Today we were tasked to write a Skeltonic, or tumbling, verse. In this form, there’s no specific number of syllables per line, but each line should be short, and should aim to have two or three stressed syllables. The lines should rhyme consistently until the rhyme is exhausted before moving on to anotherContinue reading “Jamp”