Skeleton Architecture

Hello there! Today (21st March) is World Poetry Day. To be honest, I didn't know this until Vic Welton shared a poem on her blog earlier today ( here ). She got some glorious goodies from Viking, which I'm jealous of, but I too can write about the joy of poeming, even without fancy stuff (although Viking , if you're watching, I'd love some freebies 😉), so here is my poem about why I write poetry, and underneath that are some links to awesome poets you might like to check out. Why do I write poetry? For poetry makes words into silly-putty to bounce ideas around and mould to our meanings. For poetry is a way to speak my truth to beauty and in that, reflect your own. For poems are small, and sometimes tiny and can be crafted and smoothed, embellished and made just so, and they might even find a new home. For I read and listen to poetry and find I must join in: take your words and swallow them to set my own words free. Ⓒ Cara L McKee 21/3/17 As promised here are some...

I haven't shared a fabulous five recently, but it seemed the time for one, considering the other things happening in the world today, so here are five poems that have stopped me in my tracks lately, caught my attention, burrowed into my imagination, all that stuff. First up is a poem by Mandy Sutter , a poet who won the New Welsh Writing Award last year, I've got her pamplet, Old Blue Car, which you can buy on Amazon here , and from which this poem is taken. Many thanks to Mandy for letting me reproduce it here. The day  - by Mandy Sutter you hitched home from Woolley Edge in a van of evangelists going South saying I won't kiss you to stop me smoking hiding my lighter inside your shirt saying small isn't it, Leeds - one bedroom, one pub - having time for one last coffee because of the lighter evenings making me pay because you'd brought me a bottle of red - what more did I want - and I was half relieved you were leaving I didn...

I am going away for a weekend in October, it's going to be my first weekend away since I had my first child. He's just turned eleven. My husband could not believe this could possibly be true. Neither could I. But it is, and it's time. I'm off down to my home town, for the Ilkley Literature Festival, or a bit of it anyway. I'm going to see Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall with my Mum. I may swoon, she's assured me, she won't. I'm going to see some local poets with my Dad. I am going to meet with friends I've known since middle school for lunch at Bettys. And I am going to lots and lots of events. One of the poets I'm going to see is Hollie McNish. I cannot wait. She's chuffing marvellous. You can go see her too, if you're near Ilkley, there are still tickets for sale here . And if you can't make it, if you don't know what all the fuss is about, or if you'd just like to Hollie fix, here are five of my favourites of her poems r...

It is said that for every poem you write you should read forty. Thinking about it I probably do, although the jewels amongst them can be far between (which is not to say that the rest aren't good, just that some are magnificent).  Here are some of the jewels I've come across lately. This video is Inua Ellam sharing his poem, 'Candy Coated Unicorns And Converse All Stars.' It draws you in to a shared moment, bringing a magical spotlight to bear upon a grubby tale. It is captivating and troubling, and bears repeated exploration. Next up is Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou, who is so often phenomenal. I adore the in-your-face awesome of this poem, which you'll find on Poem Hunter  here  (sorry about the really annoying adverts). Gillian Clarke has served as the National Poet of Wales for eight years and is now stepping down. One of the poems she was commissioned to write was one commemorating the mine disaster at Six Bells. Her response is a woman's ...

So I'm a bit late to this party, but Jackie Kay was named as the new Makar (the Scottish Poet Laureate) back in March, there's a lovely interview with her on Woman's Hour, talking about getting the phone call from Nicola Sturgeon (the Scottish First Minister). It's early on in the programme here . So I thought I'd share five of my favourites of her poems. First up is 'Her', a haunting poem which brings up more questions than it answers, and has a lovely rhythm to it. You can hear Jackie read it here . On the same site you can hear her read Things Fall Apart , which is a fascinating slice of an important moment in Jackie's life. I was drawn to it for the title, reminding me of Chinua Achebe's novel of the same name, taken from the line in Yeats' poem, The Second Coming : "things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;". I love the way Kay focuses in on her father and then out to the context, finally lighting on the connection between th...

Louise Gluck Louise Gluck is an American poet who I cannot believe I hadn't heard of before a friend shared one of her poems with me the other day. You can find her poem, Fable, here , and if you're anything like me, you'll be thinking 'yes, yes, I know where this goes, until she pulls the carpet out from under your feet' - awesome and so interesting. Andrew McMillan Mr McMillan has been winning a lot of awards lately after the release, in 2015, of his first book of poetry, Physical. There's a list of all the good things that are happening in his career on his website , and his poetry is astounding. You can find Finally here (and do read it because it stays with you), and for a real treat check out this Guardian Books Podcast wherein you can hear Andrew talk about and read his own work in his beautiful South Yorkshire accent (after around 12 minutes). Nordahl Grieg Nordhal Grieg was a controversial Norwegian poet who is perhaps most famous for a...

I've been getting interested in poetry lately.  Now that I spend more of my time writing, I'm more impressed by well chosen words, and by imagery that speaks so much louder than it might be expected to. Here are some of the poems which keep coming back to me at the moment. 1. You are at the Bottom of My Mind  by Iain Crichton Smith is a fabulous poem, which you'll find in full if you follow the link. It's also a poem which has inspired me to write one of my favourite poems by me to date, which I'd share with you if you were paying to view this stuff, but unfortunately, I am forced to keep to myself... for now. 2. Snow by Louis MacNeice is a really interesting poem. At first glance it is flowery (literally) nonsense, but it grows on you. It keeps coming back to me. I first came across this poem on googling a line from it that someone had quoted: "World is suddener than we fancy it." Here's the poem in full. Read it out loud. Let me...

Today for Friday's Fab five I'm sharing five poems I've come across. They are really fun/moving/good, depending, and are well worth checking out. 1. I'll kick off with Harry Baker, a British poet who has written the best poem in the world; well, he's won the world poetry slam anyway. Here he is doing a TED talk entitled 'A love poem for lonely prime numbers.' That is not the only poem in the TED talk. Harry is light hearted and fun, and has a wonderful way with words. 2. Another TED talk poem now from Shane Koyczan. This one makes me cry. Shane is an amazing poet, and it's well worth checking out his other stuff too. 3. This poem from Josie Pizer about her experience of pain is beautifully personal. 4. I shared this poem the other day on my post about my favourite physical traits. This is a little blue, but it's also awesome. This is Heels by Imani Cezanne. 5. My last choice is from Liz Lochhead, the current Makar (Nationa...

I have spoken before about how my list of books to read is huge, and ever growing. This week for Friday's Fabulous Five, I thought I'd share five books which have recently gone on the list. Perhaps I can make your list grow too?! 1. First up is Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther, as recommeded on A Good Read back in March 2015. This is a really old book, but I've not read it yet, even though there was a Virago version and I used to read EVERYTHING from Virago! Have you read it yet? 2 Next up, and I don't know how it got on the list, but it looks good is The Wilder Shores of Love by Lesley Blanch. This is pretty old too, but fascinating, telling tales from Lesley's life. It's reviewed in the Telegraph here . Lesley died in 2007, aged 103, and having packed a lot in. Literally. 3. Also from A Good Read (I should stop listening to that programme) is The Village Against the World by Dan Hancox (they talk about it at about 10 minutes in). This is about Marinaleda i...