Firstly, and not to be all Yogurt-weavery and Instagram-grateful about things, but two small things to be grateful for.
1.Today was the day that my wife said to me that she has seen smarter looking tramps. (NB Today was also the day I spontaneously decided to reach for the beard clippers- Spooky!)
2. I finally remembered to make a note of the way my daughter will without fail always pour gravy into the hole at the top of her Yorkshire pudding to create some sort of gravy reservoir. It’s the little things.
Anyhoo, how the actual living chuff is it Sunday already? The next thing I know it will be Monday and then where will we be? (Yes, I know the answer is where we usually are on a Monday – either at home or at work)
This year seems to be taking it’s toll on me more than all of last year did. I don’t know why, although I suspect I could hazard a few guesses. All of them would be different and all of them would likely be correct (I suspect insider trading).
I am certainly losing track of the days as I could have sworn today was the TS Eliot prizegiving. It isn’t – I think it’s next week. I guess as long as the poets, the judges, and Ian McMillan all know, then the rest is irrelevant. That said, I do enjoy following along on Twitter, although one year I’d like to actually go. Maybe next year.
I think I’d got my wires all crossed about dates as I finished J.O. Morgan’s ‘A Martian’s Regress‘ this week. It’s the only one of the books on the list for this year that I’ve read. I will eventually remedy this, and while I loved it I can’t say whether I want it to win or not because I have nothing to balance it against. I’ve read poems by most of the authors on the list and enjoyed them, so come join me on the fence; it’s comfy.
However, this poem from The Martian’s Regress has struck a chord with me this week.
I can’t quite nail why this poem feels apt. It just does. That will do. Good luck to all poets in the TS Eliot hat. Good luck all poets. Good luck everyone.
THE WEEK IN STATS
46.29k running – Carrying on with the Run Every Day in January thing. My foot is sore, my legs are tired, but all miles are good miles…And this is before the proper training starts…eek
0 day of 2 x 7-minute workouts, but the above means I don’t feel so bad
59 days of insults between my friend and I on Twitter. He started it.
2 x rejections: Smoke & Spectator
0 x acceptances
3 poems worked on: Out of Office, Railings, Phantom Settlements.
1 poems finished: Railings (Title and posible clarification aside)
2 new Submissions: Agenda & Acumen
32 poems currently out for submission
57 Published poems*:
43 Poems* finished by unpublished
32 poems* in various states of undress
554 Rejected poems* Eg I’ve decided they are not good enough
0 Reviews* written and submitted. 2 still to do though, so must crack on
17 day* without cigarettes..Thumbs aloft!!!
1 more week that I’m not having an affair with Eva Green
* To date, not this week. Christ!!
TITLE GIVEAWAY
Marked Safe
Heavy knitwear
Myths aren’t male moths, now do the maths
Up to my oxters in an ox blood oxbow lake.
READ/SEEN/HEAR/ETC
Read
Mick Imlah: The Loss Leader
JO.Morgan: The Martian’s Regress
Music
Julian Cope: Presents The Unruly Imagination, My nation Underground, Paranormal In The West Country, Peggy Suicide, Psychedelic Revolution, Revolutionary Suicide, Rome Wasn’t Burned In A Day, Saint Julian, Self Civil War, Skellington 1, Skellington 2, Skellington 3, World Shut your Mouth, You Gotta A Problem With Me, 20 Mothers
Epic45: We Were Never Here
The Senseless Things: Empire Of The Senseless, The First of Too Many, Postcard CV
Shady: World
David Bowie: Blackstar, Alladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs, Earthling, Heroes, hours…, Hunky Dory, Let’s Dance, Live Nassau Coliseum ’76, Lodger, Low, The Man Who Sold The World, Never Let Me Down
Fana Hues: Hues
British Sea Power: the Decline & Fall of BSP, Do You Like Rock Music?, Let The Dancer’s Inherit The Party, Machineries of Joy, Happiness
Gabriels: Love & Hate In A Different Time
Wilco: Summerteeth, A Ghost is Born
TV/Film
Spiral S8E5-6
Fear The Walking Dead S5E7-11
Glow S1E1-3
Ted Lasso E1
Staged S1E3-6
Winter Walks x 3.
Zooms, etc
Nothing
Radio/Podcasts
The Archers
Arrived
New TV Remote
Leung Rachel Ka Yin: Chengyu Chinoiserie
Vasiliki Albedo: Fire In The Oubliette
Poetry Salzburg 36
Ordered
Katherine Horrex: Growlery
A new coat
A new TV remote
Wear The Fox Hat 
This year it IS harder. It’s like the run-up to Christmas was the huge effort at the end of the marathon, only to reach the finishing post and find there’s another half marathon to go. Only you didn’t reserve enough energy for the other half because you didn’t know it was there.
‘The Martian’s Regress’ is really all one story, though divided into separate chapters with titles. So they all fit into the narrative (if you can work out the story). The bit you chose is a lovely bit though. And goes well with the Yorkshire Pudding.
Agreed it is harder. I tried (and try) not to kid myself that new years = a reset. I don’t think they do, or that years start slow and build up to being frantic. I think I just need to step up the training. (Ironically, I do actually have to start stepping up the training in Feb for a double marathon. Have I mentioned that?)
Yep, TMR is one story, and I sort of get it. There were a few sections I could pick, but that one grabbed me the most at that moment in time. The Yorkshire pud bit came later, but thank you for seeing the connection I didn’t. X