Sunset line

sunset clouds like a golden fleece

iambic hexameter by David Loffman

Photograph Golden Clouds by Psyche Delia

reprinted under flicker's Creative Commons licence

T.S. Eliot Prize Reading 2015

This was an extraordinary evening. I sat - for three hours - for the most part transfixed by the most amazing group of current poets reading from their short listed collections of poetry.

I felt - sort of - privileged and honoured to be present at this occasion. At times it was as if what Ian McMillan said in his introduction, that despite an audience of over 2000, the readings were intimate and direct. The poetry filled the auditorium and ignited our imaginations.

I've been reading the poems on the short list for the last couple of weeks. It's been a rather frantic experience dipping in and out of collections. Sometimes the experience has been frustrating, always humbling and often a sheer delight.

I don't really have any clear idea of a winner - and already in a way - all the short listed poets are already winners. But I've particularly enjoyed Sarah Howe's Loop of Jade and Don Paterson's 40 Sonnets.

But we'll all know in about three hours time.

David Bowie

I wanted to find words - a song of his - to mark David Bowie's death today, but found myself reflecting on this piece of music. It seems to convey something of that lonely passage we will all encounter. There is something terrifying and comforting in it.

If I'd ever met him I'd want to thank him for the gift of words he passed on to me. And thank him for his life, growing up in a south London suburb. He was a just a lad growing up among the debris of war and yet touched our lives.

'Ziggy played guitar.'

New Year Iambic hexameter

first light prizes open the year

Iambic hexameter by David Loffman
Photograph Richmond Park Sunshine by Steve Calcott
reprinted under flicker's creative commons licence