I had a post all planned out two, or is it three weeks ago, but tiredness and life got in the way. The gist of the post was me attempting to connect the work I was doing in the garden that weekend to the construction of a poem.
I was building, and staining two planters and some trellis (NB Trellis was bought, but I made the planters) as you’ll see below.
I forget how exactly how I was going to make the connection, but it probably involved the idea of some sort of planning followed by making it up as you go along. (Yes, like these posts…)..or something about taking raw materials and shaping them into a finished product over time…Yeah, it was probably something as pretentious or as tenuous as that.
However, while I was putting the stain on I was listening to 2 of the excellent Alice Oswald lectures (the Interview with Water and Art of Erosion ones), an Episode of The Verb (on punctuation) and the Toast podcast with Fiona Benson being interviewed by the excellent Laura Barton (I recommend her writing and radio stuff, and her novel, Twenty-One Locks).
The Benson interview was fascinating, and among all of it one point really stood out where she mentioned that the idea of calling yourself a poet should be no less of an issue than being a plumber…And I think she’s bang on. I’m not doing her justice here, but that idea that being a poet is somehow a higher calling is one that I totally concur with.
It really hit home today as well as I was attempting to swap some taps over in my kitchen. I’ve got better at saying I write poetry/calling myself a poet, but there is never going to be a time when I can say I know anything about plumbing, let along call myself such a wondrous thing. Dear god, we’ve got it the wrong way round…These people need to be the ones on plinths…
THE WEEK IN STATS
Several running – over the last few weeks..including a consecutive 16 and then 20-miler last weekend. Less so this weekend, but back to it next weekend
0 day of 2 x 7-minute workouts, but the above means I don’t feel so bad
1 x rejections: A lovely email to say thanks but no from Finished Creatures
0 x acceptance
1 poems worked on: Gentrification..dear god, it’s slow
0 new Submissions:
19 poems currently out for submission.
66 Published poems*:
40 Poems* finished by unpublished
30 poems* in various states of undress
554 Rejected poems* Eg I’ve decided they are not good enough
0.5 Review* written and submitted. 4 to do though, so must crack on
1 week without cigarettes…
1 more week that I’m not having an affair with Eva Green
* To date, not this week. Christ!!
TITLE GIVEAWAY
Dead and Bereted
READ/SEEN/HEARD/ETC
Read
Will Harris: Rendang
Luke Turner: Out of the Woods
Music
The Walkabouts: Devil’s Road, New West Motel
Betty Wright: Danger High Voltage
Mary Wilson: ST
Dry Cleaning: New Long Leg
Mogwai: As The Love Continues
Taylor Swift:Evermore, Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
Pearl Jam: Gigaton
Pele: A Scuttled Bender In A Watery Closet
Steve Gunn: Eyes on the Lines, The Unseen In Between
Barnaby Bye: Room To Grow
Teenage Fanclub: Endless Arcade
Dinosaur Jr: Sweep It Into Space, Hand It Over, Without a Sound, Where You Been, Bug, Beyond, Farm, Give A Glimpse, Green Mind, You’re Living All Over Me
Bicep: Isles
Saccades: Flowing Fades
The Happy Dragon-Band: ST
VA: Fuzz, Surf & Psych Sounds Vol.2
Cornershop: Woman’s Gotta Have It
Bryce Dessner & Australian String Quartet: Impermanence/Disintegration
The Octopus Project: The House of Apples and Eyeballs, Memory Mirror
The Blue Up: Spool Forka Dish
6ths: Wasps’ NestsClever Girls: Constellations
Mary Margaret O’Hara: Miss America
Kathryn Edwards: Total Freedom, Voyageur
The Cure: Disintegration, Head on the Door, Lost Wishes, Wish, Anniversary, Bloodflowers, Cureation, The Cure, Entreat
Female Species: Tale of my Lost Love
Lady Lamb: Little Flaws
Sharon Van Etten: Because I Was In Love, Are We There, Epic
Explosions In The Sky: The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place
The Go! Team: Rolling Blackouts
Walcot Cherry Vasconcelos: Condona
Ultra Vivid Scene: Rev
Samantha Crain: I Guess We Live Here Now
Chocolate Milk: Action Speaks Louder Than Words
Tarnation: Mirador
The National: Alligator, The Boxer, Cherry Tree, High Violet, I Am Easy To Find, ST, Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers, Sleep Well Beast, Trouble Will Find Me, The Virginia EP,
The Coral: Coral Island, The Curse of Love
New Order: Education, Entertainment, Recreation
Art Pepper: Smack up
The Wedding Present: Seamonsters
Caspian: On Circles
Cassandra Jenkins: An Overview On Phenomenal Nature
TV/Film
Shetland S2- S5
The Dig
Blinded: People Who Kill E1-2
Zooms, etc
Three Hounds Poetry – Bad Betty evening
Radio/Podcasts
The Archers
Weird Norfolk
My mate Rance’s Film show on local Radio
Arrived
Joshua Mehigan: Accepting the Disaster
Adrian Mole Secret Diary & Growing Pains
Louisa Campbell: Beautiful Nowhere
Gboyega Odubanjo: Aunty Uncle Poems
John Gallas: The Exstasie
Fenland Poetry Journal #4
New running trainers from Brookes
Poetry Wales
Ordered
Joshua Mehigan: Accepting the Disaster
New running trainers from Brookes
Adrian Mole Secret Diary & Growing Pains
Louisa Campbell: Beautiful Nowhere
John Gallas: The Exstasie
Fenland Poetry Journal #4
Jeremy Page –
Wear The Fox Hat 
Pingback: Poetry Blog Digest 2021, Week 18 – Via Negativa
The Talk Talk number is good mindfulness music….
Very nice blog.🤠 😏 2021-06-21 06h 12min