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Python, a poem for World Poetry Day
A recording of me reading my poem 'Python' to mark World Poetry Day.
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Written in the Stars
Today at 7pm in the Town Hall in Gort, I'll be reading poetry, alongside other local poets, as part of the Poetry Ireland's Poetry Day Ireland - the theme is 'Written in the Stars'.
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Submerged in Mythic Delirium
My poem, ‘Submerged’, is in issue 4.2 of Mythic Delirium, along with a variety of work, including a cover by The Crosspunk Wanderer (aka Lasse Paldanius), new stories from James Van Pelt, Daniel Ausema and Premee Mohamed, and more poetry by Virginia M Mohlere, Trent Walters, David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Mary Soon Lee and Alix Bosley. I wrote the poem in response to the discovery of HMS Terror, submerged in an Arctic Bay, after 168 years lost. Sometimes only a poem will do.
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Be dazzled by this glittering life
Sparkle in the dying light of stars. You too will join them as effervescent dust soon enough.
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web morning
This morning saw a beautiful combination of sunlight hitting wet trees and shrubs that were coated with a patina of frost. A mist curled up from the iced grass toward blue skies. Everywhere there were spider webs, jewelled with beads of water. One long chain formed a barrier across the path – I spotted it at the last moment and ducked underneath. Photographing cobwebs can be tricky, but I managed to snap a few of them. This was one of my favourite shots. Oh! The artless cunning of nature.
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sun in the sky you know how I feel
I’ve been getting a constant stream of birthday greetings from people via Facebook and Twitter today, and it’s lovely. Thank you all! People might grumble about social media, but it has its good uses too. I’m just about recovered from my two-week trip with back-to-back convention in the UK. World Horror Convention was probably the highlight because it was a well-run convention, and I met loads of new people at the event since the horror/dark fantasy crowd aren’t well represented at the likes of Eastercon (which focuses more on SF and Fantasy). It’s pretty much confirmed that I’ll have to start attending Fantasy Con in England, and I’ve already joined…
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Seamus Online
Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, is giving a reading today at 1.05pm at the National Gallery in Dublin, organised by Poetry Ireland. Fear not, the event is being broadcast live over the Internet, so you can watch and listen from anywhere in the world. At times like this I must add: technology rocks!
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coming out of darkness
I’ve never neglected my blog for such a long time – although I continue to chatter on Twitter – but the last quarter of 2009 has been a period of stressful work deadlines followed by a string of difficulties that rendered me mute. I should note that it was not terrible all the time, because to indicate otherwise would be to present a one-sided picture of recent months. Life is a mixture of good and bad moments, although we tend to under-appreciate the good and over-emphasise the bad. So, I’m bidding 2009 farewell with a grateful heart that I’ve survived its tests, and with an appreciation of those friends and…
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hearing the resonance bell
Today I wrote a poem, went to a poetry reading, and read out a different poem at the open mic section. I know no one at these events, and it’s nerve-wracking for me to read poetry in front of strangers. Still, it’s a good exercise, and I haven’t had the opportunity to attend of late. Generally, I find listening to other people read their work inspiring. I enjoy the diversity: the rapid shifts of pace and subject matter. Even when some of it is not to my taste. Often, there is a combination of words, a phrase, a verse, or an entire poem that hits the resonance bell. Then those…
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catching up
The past three weeks have been hectic, and my weekly Thursday Twitterfic lapsed during this period, but as it happens a bunch of my twitter stories hit the web so here are links to them: There are two stories, here and here, on Thaumatrope, and a pico story on Outshine. During Easter my poem “Exchange” went live on the fabulous Goblin Fruit. Finally, issue 10 of British horror magazine Black Static is now on sale, and it contains my short story “Vic”. I had a brilliant time at Eastercon in Bradford. I thoroughly enjoyed all the panels I was on, and moderated tightly for the two I shepherded. Generally, I…
