Having nun of it

Family Riches are not long back from a trip to Seville. I’m thinking of it as a midweek long weekend as we went from Tuesday to Friday. A lovely time was had by all that attended, we walked, we ate, we walked and ate some more. We visited the Giralda, Real Alcazar De Sevilla, and Plaza de España. I had also hoped to visit Convento de San Leandro to sample some of the nun’s biscuits, but couldn’t due to forgetting that most things shut down between 2 and 5 in Spain. I suspect the nuns were having a well-earned kip.

I’d read about the place on the Atlas Obscura website I linked to above, but I was also aware of the practice through a poem by Matthew Stewart called Bishop’s Hearts. My plan was to get a photo of me receiving said biscuits and then link to Matthew’s excellent poem…

However, this experience has taught me two things.

1. Remember the local knowledge given to you by people. In this case, the aforementioned Matthew Stewart
2. Always remember to capture PDFs/images of your poems when they are published online, lest the site close down.

Bishop’s Hearts was published by the excellent Algebra of Owls site, but that now looks to be out of business/has closed down. I was lucky enough to have a poem published there too, but I don’t have a copy of it. Well, I do, obvs, but not the page and the link is now dead. I’m not sure what happened to the team behind AoO, but I hope they’re ok.

I’d have loved to meet up with Matthew for a Cruzcampo or sherry or two, but he was about 3 hours drive away, and quite busy, so alas it wasn’t to be. Perhaps we could have started making plans for another Rogue Strands reading when he’s next over in the UK. I’d like that. It’s been too long.

I didn’t get to take a photo of Matthew in the flesh, but I got this instead on the way to the apartment we were staying in. It’s sort of the same thing.

In lieu of a poem this week I will point you at the latest Bad Lilies

Couldn’t manage Bishop’s hearts, but will Bishop’s Robes do?

THE LAST WEEK IN STATS

HEALTH STATS
12K running. Some running on Monday, and an 8k on Weds in Seville. Didn’t run today due to heavy rain
3 days without cigarettes…really, really need to knuckle down here
1 Days since drinking.
2 sleepless nights: This is really pissing me off

LIFE STATS
1 trip to Seville
5 tapas teas
1 trip to Wakehurst

POET STATS
0 poems finished:
0 poems worked on:
0 submissions:
0 acceptances:
0 reading:
0 rejections:
26 poems are currently out for submission. NB some are simultaneous subs
79 Published poems
35 Poems* finished but unpublished
Twelvety poems* in various states of undress
554 Rejected poems* Eg I’ve decided they are not good enough

0 reviews finished:
1 reviews started: I’m 600 words in
0 reviews submitted:
3 reviews to write

1 more week that I’m not having an affair with Eva Green

* To date, not this week. Christ!!

READ/SEEN/HEARD/ETC

Read
Seamus Heaney: New Selected Poems 1988- 2013
Poetry Scotland #104

Zooms: None

Music
The Smile: A Light For Attracting Attention
Greg Dulli: Random Desire
The Afghan Whigs: How Do You Burn?
Beth Orton: Weather Alive
Goat: Oh Death
Taylor Swift: Midnights
The Orielles: Tableau
The Archers
Tortoise Media: Satantic Ritual Podcast
The Clientele: Bonfires on the Heath
Tallies: Patina
Winter: What Kind of Blue Are You?
Carly Rae Jepsen: Dedicated
SG Goodman: Teethmarks
Tim Burgess: Typical Music
Annette Peacock: Sky-Skating