“A stillness so complete, you hear / the whispering inside of you” -Jack Gilbert, “Betrothed“ During the most recent London riots, I was ambling through the Wye Valley with family, staying in a 12th-century monks’ cottage, and meditating on the nature of peace. A seed was then planted in my mind about how necessary the …
At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is, But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity, Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards, Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the …
Lens-based artist Alastair Cook has done a remarkable job incorporating a poem I wrote in memory of our neighbour-friends’ son into a film-poem in his characteristic visual style. Be sure to listen through headphones to get the full effect of Vladimir Kryutchev‘s binaural recordings. The film will premiere at the Felix Poetry Festival in Antwerp …
“I have become comfortably numb.” -Pink Floyd When I commute into the city centre, I often take a book of poems. I read them eagerly on the way in to work. But after a long day wrestling with technical, logistical, and managerial issues, on the return journey I will invariably whip out my phone and …
“Not wrong, just different.” –Valerie‘s mantra for overcoming culture shock Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of my arrival in London. This afternoon I attended a reading at Keats House in Hampstead. Four volunteers read poems and excerpts from his letters dealing with the concept of Negative Capability. This ability to remain “in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, …
First Year in London: Lessons in Negative Capability Read More »
I spent some time at the weekend upgrading the look and feel of my website. My aim was twofold: First, a kind of spring cleaning, aimed at de-cluttering the site and focusing the experience primarily on the articles, rather than myriad sidebar links. I have come to realise it is not so much reading on …
