Sample Work
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This poem was written for a wildlife biologist who wanted a poem about a hawk that forgot it had wings. It was a cold day and he offered to buy me a hot drink - the greatest kindness is always surprising.
Poems Busked on the Street
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This poem was written about a Polish girl meeting an English guy. They seemed a lovely couple, but somehow the poem turned rather political, with Brexit and all. It's always better to work together.
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A poem about the sea and the deep wisdom in nature and how ecosystems are structured, which we would do well to heed. The ocean, in particular, can teach us so much.
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This is one of my favourites (despite the typo in the last line): written under intense time pressure as the customer had to catch a train, it tells the story of a kimono string and the passionate love for a woman. The third line alludes to Millay's sonnet 43.
'Busked' Commissions
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The second poem of a series of Christmas poems to mark the years this couple had celebrated Christmas together. The 'First Christmas' poem was a longer one, and this one mentioned main features of their year together.
This was written for a teacher colleague who was leaving the school I was teaching at. She was someone with a strong sense of justice and, like me, a fan of Wonder Woman.
Written for a birthday, this poem enshrines the love of two people for each other. Things I were told about the recipient were she likes impromptu exploring and plays the guitar and piano. I felt this was a bit of Song of Songs and turned out more sensual than first thought. Love the word 'oxter'.
A poem written for a friend from primary school with whom I used to explore Castle Rising Castle, pretending we were knights.
Longer Commissions
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A difficult commission about the birth of Ozzy who was on this planet for only 6 months. The mother wanted a positive poem and provided a lot of information, which I tried to incorporate in the final poem.
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A poem for a 50th birthday. I had 3 pages of notes to work from for this commission, and included as much as I could. Apparently the poem went down well!
A Christmas poem written for a keen photographer who has taken some flack for going against the crowd. Being a hobby photographer myself, it was fun to play around with technical vocabulary when writing this poem
A lovely commission, this, written for a handfasting of two Star Wars fans. It was a virtual ceremony due to c-19, and the two asked me to read the poem out loud at their ceremony. I was very honoured to be present at this important moment.
Artistic Commissions
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A poem about London, for which I also collected some Thames water. The final version was illustrated, taking impulses from Blake, directly onto a map of London. This has been one of my most fun and ambitious commissions to date for fellow US busker Joseph Jablonski.
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The illustrated/ illuminated version of a poem I wrote for my partner. For the drawings I drew inspiration from medieval manuscripts with their illustrations and patterns.