Wave Silo

"Once upon a time in a place called Wheatley (which means wheat field, and is well named) there was a field of wheat - I tell a lie, there were many..." ' The Naughtiest Thing ' is the timeless tale of a vicar's daughter committing the ultimate transgression in a wheat field. You can read the tale in full on my Substack . This fairytale poem has been published on a centuries-old letterpress as a limited edition broadside of 50 numbered copies, featuring a hand-coloured chaffinch - the namesake of the goblin in the tale. It was (and perhaps a few still are) available exclusively in Glastonbury bookshops. 'The Naughtiest Thing' is a work of fiction and any similarity to any former Prime Ministers or Home Secretaries living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Edit : regrettably, but understandably, the measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus have forced the cancellation of this event. We and Théâtre Volière hope that it will be possible to stage it in happier times. - Through February and March this year, I have been working as part of a group of writers (including my wife, Erica Viola ) with Théâtre Volière  on a set of poems inspired by the traces left behind by Europe's lost empires and cities. Together, these traces of an imagined 'Vanished Kingdom' will conjure a culture that never was, and which yet feels very familiar. Coins, pottery shards, epic poems, spells, curses, folksongs, monolithic stones - our unreal land had none of these. Still, we will describe their ghosts. On Monday 23 March 2020 we'll be performing ' A Vanished Kingdom ' as part of the 2020 Marchland Festival at Canada Water Theatre . A further performance of 'A Vanished Kingdom' will be taking place at the sam...

Chi Chi or qi is a concept derived from Classical Chinese Philosophy. It can be expressed in English as ‘life force’, but also as ‘air’, ‘breath’ and ‘energy flow’. We might compare or contrast chi with Awen , a Celtic word which Bards use to mean inspiration - and which also relates to ‘breath’ and ‘flow’. Sometimes the Hindu notion of kundalini is referred to in relation to Chi. But kundalini does not translate to ‘air’ or ‘breath’ or ‘flow’. Kundalini is a coiled snake . Me Me, I have some ideas. Me, I hope you understand. Me, I look forward to hearing from you. Me, I trust you are well. Me, I want to select carefully. Me, I have now settled on the theme. Me, I am attaching a painting. Me, I work in Property. Me, I am a very proud and happy Mummy. Me, I am active and rooted in Community. Me, I managed to replace my day job of more than 33 years as a legal PA. Me, I have been running my own business. Me, I fully sacked my boss. Me, I came t...

In July last year I offered an original poem as a raffle prize at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants ' Summer Party. I promised that the raffle winner would be able to name a subject of their choosing, and that I'd write a poem on the subject that they could do with as they wished. At the end of a truly lovely afternoon spent with supporters of JCWI, the artist and law-worker Jagrati Bhatia won my poem-prize in the raffle. In the weeks and months between then and now, Jag and I have been exchanging thoughts over email and webcam about the possibilities of the poem, the theme for which she decided would be 'Identity'. To my great pleasure, Jagrati also told me of her intention to arrange for the finished piece to be displayed alongside her artwork at the Law Society's Art Group exhibition this month. The exhibition starts tomorrow, Tuesday 14th January, at the Law Society's Reading Room - 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL - and my poem 'Chim...

Klaus opened up the big red book for the last time that night. He turned it to the last page, and ticked the last three stops: Zurich, Zwickau, Zwolle. Done, done, done. It was always the same three to finish with, heading back North towards the Arctic. So many years, so many rituals. The reindeer harnessed... the chimneys caved... the brandies downed, at so many firesides. But tonight there was a new ritual. One he would perform only once. The Arctic Elves had been instructed, and the deer provided for - everything would go on. The world would not even miss him. His image was everywhere, and anyway, they thought he was a myth. Nicholas the Wonderworker took his sack down off the sleigh. He set it down flat on the snow, and opened it out in a wide circle. The open bag was a portal to a seemingly bottomless pit, walled with 1700 years’ worth of toys. He took a few steps back, adjusted his belt, ran forwards - and leaped in . Now he fell down the tunnel of toys. At the very t...

I am again taking part in Dalston Writers' 'Take-Away Tales', which means copies of my festive flashfic 'The Last Christmas' are available from CLR James Library . I'm number 8 on the menu - pick one up if you're in the area and I'll post the full text here on Christmas Eve.

"Once upon a time in a place called Wheatley (which means wheat field, and is well named) there was a field of wheat - I tell a lie, there were many..." 'The Naughtiest Thing' , a tale of lies and curses and forbidden forays into wheat-fields, is set to be published as a Glastonbury Broadside Ballad in the first week of March 2020. Image by Pezibear from Pixabay