Daffodils, and all the trees cloaked in a pale green mist…
Yes – dog walking is a real pleasure in this wonderful weather.
We’ve had a full house this weekend, Isaac home and Ferg’s friend an added extra, the house has been reverberating with loud music and male laughter… Pity the neighbours… Cooking for young men is such a pleasure. I love to see them enjoy their meals with gusto and hear their groans as their plates are scraped clean. It makes all the effort worth it. And now it’s the school holidays – no pressure to get them all moving before seven and a gentle relaxedness settles over us all. I still like to get up quite early. I love the house to myself first thing – to kick start my day and my writing. I hate the feeling of the day having slipped away from me if I get up late. But it’s also lovely to know that if I go to bed very late there isn’t going to be an alarm hounding me to wake before I’m ready.
I have my last poetry class of the John Gallas course I’ve been attending today. We each have seven minutes to read from the poetry we’ve been working on over the last six weeks. I’m just trying to choose which six sonnets to read – I have sixteen now that are in some semblance of completeness. Some are serious and quite sad, others light and (hopefully) amusing. I can’t decide whether a mix would work or to keep the mood similar throughout, or to work from heavy through to light in a vain hope to uplift?
I’ve been enjoying the six wonderful poetry pamphlets recently published by Crystal Clear Creators. Check them out.
I attended the launch of the pamphlets at Leicester University which was a fantastic and uplifting evening. Also the recent Shindig at the Western pub, where Aly Stoneman and Charles Lauder were the featured poets – another equally stunning evening.
The quality of the writing and the delightful way it is presented makes for some memorable pamphlets:
Andrew Graves’ energetic rhythms and keen observations.
Jessica Mayhew’s glittering imagery, old tales caught in mirrored glass.
Roy Marshall ‘s Pared down vignettes and his Rose that made me remember my babies and then made me cry.
Charles Lauder’s blood and guts and contemporary sexuality.
Hannah Stevens’ acutely observed detail and intense emotivity.
Aly’ Stoneman’s shifting landscapes and lyrical poinancy.
Click on either of these two links to excellent reviews of the Shindig and check out Crystal Clear Creators on facebook for many more.
http://jaynestantonpoetry.wordpress.com/
http://garylongden.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/shindig-western-ph-leicester-2/
Even better – get yourself a copy of each… you won’t be disappointed I promise.
Thanks for reading 
