Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Podcast: Mab Jones


On this edition I am joined by Mab Jones who shares some of her poems and talks about her recent visit to Japan to learn the Japanese art of rakugo – story telling. She would also like to hear your poems on the theme of Japan. They could be about anything related to Japan or poems in a Japanese form about anything at all. Haiku are easy to go for or try one of these. You could even write in Japanese.
Post your poems in the comments or email info@patrickwiddess.co.uk.
You can also hear the poem I wrote in response to Will Ford's prompt on the last podcast.

Here's another of Mab's poems you can buy her book Poor Queen here.

Wonderland
“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” – Lewis Carroll

Let curiosity be your guide.
Let the dark that dwells inside
Dare here. Let go of fear
As babies do their mother’s hand.
And at your feet: a doorway, now.
A smiling mouth. Step in. Slide down. 
Let yourself be swallowed whole.
Inside, all your life, you’ve yearned:
Eat me. Drink me. Let possibility
Open wide, consume the you
You thought you knew. Sink deeper.
Fall. Let go of all and, like that ancient
Apple, land. Rise up, then. Stand.
Your naked flesh on newborn feet -
Tentative. Teetering. Testing
Soft soles on an old world’s teeth.
Your eyes, unpeeled. Your heart, a seed.
Prepared for an adventure, here,

That’s furiouser and furiouser.



Monday, June 8, 2015

Poem: Sandstorm by Fran Smith



Fran Smith has written the following poem in response to Julie Prichard's prompt — a grain of sand. Fran is a regular at poetry events in Newport and Cardiff and it's great to have this wonderful contribution. I hope the prompts on these podcasts inspire many more original poems from listeners. You can hear my response to Julie's prompt on the most recent podcast with Will Ford who also has a prompt for you to try.

Sand Storm

Insignificant like grains of sand, molecules of
Shells crushed; a life living once, but now
Ground down to ground catching glimmers of
Sun rays mirroring unity with laser light
Significant for a moment, shining as a star in
Limelight; light moves on, and on and on into
Desert wilderness; deserted in ordered chaos
Blowing up storms of drought causing flesh to
Burn wretched and shrivel to flakes of dust to
Dust to dust: Lost in myriads of desert sand,
Deserted again.