Sometime in the future I want to read Italian poets in the original, Dante for example. I have translations. They are inspiring but I feel they miss something and I want to feel that something. Here’s a love poem, L’Infinito (The Infinite), by Giacomo Leopardi: Always to me beloved was this lonely hillside And the…
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There’s an outbreak of poetry around Christmas. I love it. We’ve a special evening in the Village Hall in Liddington with carol singers from Bristol University followed by festive poems, and then there’s Santa (bless his Wiltshire accent!) It’s always a sell-out and I highly recommend it. In the weeks leading up to the event…
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I wrote in a recent article that my friend, Paul Waites, composed a poem for my birthday. I said it was so good I entered it into a competition. Many of you have asked what happened next. Well, he didn’t win but poetry judging is obtuse – and I’m a bad loser! But back to…
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Every year Poetry Swindon runs a weekend with local and visiting poets. This year it’s branded “The Big Poetry Weekend” and there are some good names. What to recommend to my regular readers? Poetry has many channels and sometimes it’s difficult to navigate. Some poets wallow in complexity with no consideration of an audience, some…
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I’m sure some of you know Milton Campbell from Stratton St. Margaret. You’ll understand the link here with his first name, Milton. When his parents named him after the great poet, John Milton, it could’ve been a millstone around his considerable neck, or a lifetime with a great conversation opener. He opted for the latter….
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This is an uplifting story a year on. It’s about a Swindon man who, had he lived, would be 70. What set Dafydd Rouse apart was that he was gay and a poet, a dangerous combination during his lifetime. The end wasn’t great either. He was paralysed after a motorbike accident and died ten years…
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The thing is, she didn’t know how gifted a poet she was until she came to Swindon! Altea Narici is from Italy and here to improve her English. She plays the cello professionally and has composed pieces for it so, in terms of creativity, she is well on her way. We had a lovely evening…
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I’m running a Marathon in Bhutan and, believe it or not, a postage stamp was the catalyst. When I was young I came across stamps from Bhutan, which were colourful and all shapes. My favourite was a circular stamp that looked like an old penny. In the centre was a hole so you could put…
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So who was the hare in all this? Was it the elder, Colin, whose last hash as hare had us run over 9 miles and finish through a slurry pit, including walkers, including Kathy for crying out loud? Or was it the lovely smiley, Elena, daughter of Colin of Chiseldon and grand-daughter of the driver…
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A dear friend handed me a poem for my birthday with a note to “read it when you get a chance.” It’s a poem with a catchy title, several stanzas with no rhyming, slightly opaque and very funny. I read it again and again and opened ever more layers. Brilliant! But who wrote it? I…
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