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| Bobby Parker |
Then I thought if I am driving I may as well fill my car up with a collection of excellent poets. So I messaged Chris Guidon and his beautiful, talented fiance Emma (she paints amazing pictures) and invited them to come.
Then I asked the poet Sarah James if she wanted the last space and she said yes... a whole car load of poets (and one artist and muse) heading for Poetry Bites. What could go wrong?
I picked up Sarah from Droitwich and headed for Kiddy, this went fairly well as I know my way around The Shire, problems began after I picked up Bobby, Chris and Emma.
Does anyone know the way?
No.
Nobody knows?
No.
I had a map.
It was useless.
Actually I was useless at reading the map.
Under pressure to deliver one of the headline acts my brain melted into custard and I sat gaping like a goldfish somewhere in Hagley whilst the people in the back waited for me to find my way. Luckily sat next to me was a calm voice of reason who also had the foresight to bring her Sat Nav thingy.
Sarah programmed it to bark orders at me in a bored female voice but I was so happy to be able to get there I welcomed every snotty order the Sat Nav directed at me. Thank you to Sarah James for getting us all to Poetry Bites, you are an absolute STAR!
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| Sarah James |
Anyway we got there, on time as well. So what was the poetry like? Let me tell you, but remember I wasn't in official review mode so I didn't write notes on all acts or record all their names. So this is just an impression of the night not a review of every single poet, just the ones that really stood out to me, and relying on my slightly faulty memory.
Jacqui Rowe and David Calcutt were brilliant hosts and it was a very packed audience. There was a chap called Roger, I think, who read a number of observational poems about travelling on buses, I thought he captured some insights into human nature very well and speaking to him before hand it seemed that poetry meant a great deal to him. There was a guy called Chris who performed a powerful poem about the tricks and lies of the media which was excellent. Then there was a female poet who read two poems about a willow and a rowan tree which I enjoyed as I love tree imagery and I liked the pagan symbols about the trees that were layered into the poems. David Calcutt read two beautiful poems, his poetry is so carefully constructed that it makes strong, vivid pictures in my head as he reads them.
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| rowan tree |
Chris Guidon read three excellent poems, I really like the way he writes and I like the way he reads them to the audience, quite mesmerising. One of the poems opened with the lines,
'We came across an abandoned car
still clicking in the snow drift,
poised there like a nervous dog left -
tied to the railings outside some empty shop.'
It was a stunning poem. The last poem was about time spent on holiday with his girlfriend where they were watching a helicopter lift water to release onto an olive grove. The poem was skillfully tense and expectant, filled with sensual, erotic metaphors.
Gary Longdon read a very interesting set of three poems about Aston Hall and he showed off his excellenet performance skills but investing each piece with different pace and emotion. The inspired idea of likening the Jacobean mansion to an alien spacecraft set down in urban sprawl was brilliant and funny. The Long Gallery poem was clever too, very well observed and a good connection (the image of the walk along the gallery ) to the final poem which was softer, introspective and had a stong central image, things appearing different under the surface, of the layers of grime hiding the oak walls and the last line was so strong.
Sarah James read two poems which contrasted very well. The first was very clever, called 'The je ne sais quoi of it' she was playing with the ideas of linguistics and memory. It felt emotional but not sentimental and had a film like quality. She followed that with a witty little poem imagining the dreams and desires of a fridge. I like the way poets take you places you have never imagined.
Laurence Inman's poem about running was really excellent. I enjoyed it very much, It had so much going on it and he performed it very well.
Adele's poem about her daughter was perhaps my favourite of the night. I identified so strongly with her feelings about motherhood, her relationship with her daughter and coping with people's judgement about having a baby at the apprently incorrect time. Although I wasn't as young as Adele was when she had her daughter (and I loved how her daughter was so proud of her poetic, hippy mum) I had my own share of people thinking I was mad to have a baby as a single mum. Adele cleverly encapsulated many of my own feelings and her poem made me laugh and I nearly cried too. A wonderful performance and talent.
Antony R Owen is a poet I have seen twice before now and each time I hear him read it is a very intense and assured performance, he commands the audience by the power of his voice and his poetry. His poems often make me feel uneasy but at the same time they absorb me. His poem about his father was one my highlights of the night.
Janet Smith came on late in the second half and she cast a spell over the whole audience with her poised and elegant performance. Softly spoken but she holds the audience with her spare, beautifully constructed poems. She read two poems with an Alaskan theme including her stunning poem 'Pacific' which is in three parts. The way Janet says the numbers before each section is like a pause for the audience to take a breath before the next vivid description. To me, her poems feel like paintings made with words.
Mal Dewhirst read an interesting poem about his time in Ireland as part of the Cork/Coventry poet exchange which complimented the poems Joseph Horgan would follow with later. Mal reads very well and his poems are crafted so the listener can go on the journey too, with the poet as he observed his surroundings in Ireland.
Joseph Horgan, was originally born in Birmingham, to Irish parents but has lived in Ireland since the 1980's. He obviously has a close connection to the city and it made his performance feel very special and quite emotional as the audience recognised the descriptions of Birmingham in his poetry. He had everyone in the audience hanging off every word. His poems were short and I liked that, it takes skill to be succinct and convey so much. He read a poem about watching his sisters washing their hair in the sink, chatting and gossiping, full of life and the hair seemed to me to symbolise innocence, childhood happiness and it ended with the sisters moving out and cutting their hair short. It was one of the best poems I have heard this year, I loved it. It was a pleasure to hear him read.
Bobby Parker was on fire last night, he read last and was extremely relaxed and confident. Reading from his collection 'Digging for Toys' he picked out different poems on various subjects but all were well received by the audience. He made them laugh, gasp, bellow and cheer. He explored difficult themes but never wallowed in misery, he has a lightness of touch that allows the audience to share his sense of humour. His poem about his feelings of fear before his wedding called 'HGWell's' was a typical example of his skill. Surreal, humourous on one level, it has layers below that explored his relationship with his girlfriend, family and the conventions of marriage. It was excellent. I also thought his poem about his love for his daughter was extrememly clever. To write about his baby smelling of piss may seem horrible but in the skillful hands of the poet Bobby Parker it is an expression of deep and pure love that doesn't need sentiment or pretty similies. He writes poetry that has the ring of truth about it and that is very talented indeed.
I also read but I will leave someone else to write a review of my poems.
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