On Thursday 26th November, 2009, I sat hunched over a laptop and knocked out 100 poems in a single day (which you can read here). I only just squeaked in before the deadline, and was left feeling dizzy, anxious and exhausted. This year, I decided to try again. On Friday 26th November, 2010, I sat … Read more

Twas in a dream The Scholar strode, The Scholar strode with me, We walked o’er shale Through wind and hail Beside the tumbling sea Twas in a dream Through squall and gale Beside the tumbling sea Beneath our feet, a brittle hoard, A trove of Neptune’s bric-a-brac By cliffs where Satan walks abroad A-riding sinners … Read more

Watching the rainstorm through an open skylight I have never felt so cosy. Ash leaves lap fatly at the drenched air, Splaying like wet bats at each gush of sea wind Then slapping back down as black oilskins Or a haul of thrashing sprats. The full moon is burning through the cloudbank, Lamplight in biscuit-coloured … Read more

So, for those of you who missed it, a couple of months back we – that is, I, and the rest of Aisle16 – did a special night of our regular London literary cabaret club Homework, dedicated to the poem that Tom Cruise delivers in Cocktail, ‘The Last Barman Poet’. We thought it might just … Read more