Mimi Khalvati was born in Tehran and has lived most of her life in London. She has published nine collections with Carcanet Press, including The Meanest Flower, shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize 2007, and Child: New and Selected Poems 1991-2011, a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation.
Publish and be damned, as the Duke of Wellington retorted! There is no one way to write poetry and there are many who would teach you poetry while they struggle themselves! There are no regulations regarding workshops. So please stumble and be bruised; choose workshops and mentors wisely. Success is not guaranteed. Do read poems, learn, read more, listen, read aloud, and follow your path. Even the likes of Walt Whitman and Lord Tennyson were condemned in their times! Many have explained poetry, only poetically, but no one can do so concretely. Here are other takes by various poets…
The Founder of Obsidian Nick Makoha is a Ugandan poet and playwright and based in London. His debut Kingdom of Gravity was shortlisted for the Felix Dennis Prize and nominated by The Guardian as one of the best books of 2017.
By Keith Woodhouse The night was over And the sea curds crackled And bent, crisply, in the deadening rays Of morning, As she sank into the bank Of the sand speckled Tulip blossom And angry Red spangled pupil sun…. Read More ›
March Lapwings Now everythingbegins to moveand everything stayswhere it iseach ash treeand each hummockshifts againstitself eventhe grass shiftsand the electriclapwings crychange changebecause the commonmelts and flowseven the earthflows like thawingice how lostthe senses arein this disturbancehere… Read More ›
A Storm A storm is brewing. Rain is sudden, heavy, falling with shadows, a thunder of echoes on the horizon. The summer air is thick and slow, waiting to be moved by a long awaited wind. Soon, raised hands will… Read More ›
Pearl Fishers by Steven O’Brien Such ember-gold in your eyes,As no other girlAnd deep church-glass green,Purple, soft as smoke. Some daybreak soonWhen our blackbird is a high minstrelAbove the rippling treesSlip your hand in mine,No other girl but you And… Read More ›
by Yogesh Patel Saddens me we are binaryto my skin.Grandpa used to tell me a lie.Prof Macaulay would throwthe answer papers in the air.The ones landing on the table would pass!There is no random indiscrimination in most discriminations. Never for… Read More ›
George Szirtes We remain rainless. The late sun draped on washing like a faded flag. This is our nation with its fabled history of bloom, fight and fade. We’re fading. Leaders at press briefings continue to conjure the great spirit… Read More ›
Anandi Sharan Giving and receiving Giving and receiving isa matter of systems-logic.Listen to the poets!Here it is,metabolising civilisation.Is it not timeto make love?The rest is not in our control.It is up to the system.I once had a mad lifeand was… Read More ›
One of the greatest pleasures in my grandfather’s life was to visit the market in Cannes, to admire the variety and quality of the produce on offer and to chat to some of the stallholders. Covered markets in Spain are… Read More ›
In Search of Salt – by Yogesh Patel There is a jungle in this desert! The baboons of media are having a breakfast of Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Write as much as you wish on the sand from your oasis, where your… Read More ›
Two Tall Trees There’s a window in the bathroom and if you stand at the bottom of the stairs you can see 2 tall trees through it. And if you walk 2 steps up you can see the leaves on… Read More ›
By Yogesh Patel To the undertakers A preview of myself is a hidden mirror in a selfie mirror. I have always been brutal on the soliloquising Houdini! Yet, I have kept vultures at bay in this Dakhma. The undertakers have… Read More ›