A poem by Clarissa Aykroyd

The poets I most admire tend to be the ones that don't follow trends, that are in this for the long haul, that don't have any choice but to be in this, that plough their own furrow. Suffice to say, Clarissa Aykroyd is one of those poets, which is why I'm so happy she'll be reading with us on 28th November (see Facebook page, blah, blah...).

Her poem today is sinuous. It's written in clear-cut language yet it hints at contradiction, ambiguity and ambivalence, dropping clues into the mix, layering them like the plot of a thriller...

SEVENTEEN STEPS

This is the room. I am the client

who has waited for an hour.

The skull, the bullet holes, the files

are fading but the sound of footfalls

on the seventeen steps is clear.

This is the dream. I know

he can’t solve this, but I’m still here. 

(First published in Lighthouse)

Rogue Strands Poetry Reading

With featured readings from Rory Waterman, Katy Evans-Bush, Ramona Herdman, Rishi Dastidar, Mat Riches and myself, plus support from Robin Houghton, Neil Elder and Clarissa Aykroyd, the second Rogue Strands Poetry Reading is up and running!

It would be a huge understatement to mention I'm chuffed that my co-organiser (Mat Riches) and I should have managed to bring the above-mentioned line-up together. In fact, I'd go as far as claiming we'll provide an excellent snapshot of some of the best poetry around on the U.K. scene when they read at the King and Queen pub in Foley Street, London W1W 6DL on 28th November, where events will kick off at 7.30 p.m..

There's a Facebook page for the reading (see here) where you can keep up with our news, while I'll also be posting a top-notch poem from each of our poets on Rogue Strands as we get nearer the time.

Oh, and Mat Riches has produced this excellent poster. Please feel more than free to share it on social media and help us generate the audience on 28th November that our poets so richly deserve...

Clarissa Aykroyd's The Stone and the Star blog

Another year, another excellent poetry blog comes to my attention...

... this time it's Clarissa Aykroyd's The Stone and the Star. Her blog is especially interesting because it often draws on out-of-copyright poems that can thus be republished and discussed in situ. Moreover, Aykroyd doesn't just slap verse up there and deal with it superficially. Instead, she gets her hands dirty and homes in on how the verse functions.

Perhaps my favourite out of all the recent posts on The Stone and th Star is Aykroyd's detailed analysis of Keith Douglas' "Words". Okay, so I'm a committed Douglas fan, but she really does the poem justice. Furthermore, her piece encourages me to reread his verse in the light of her remarks.What greater recommendation can I give...?!