April 2017 Challenge
April 1st, April Fools Day Here’s a poem by Billy Collins: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/night-club In the first line he uses the word ‘fool’, but this isn’t the subject of his poem. This month’s challenge is to do the same with a poem of your own. Well, you don’t have to use the word ‘fool’ in the first […]
March Challenge 2017
St David’s Day. Ah, where can we go from here? David…whose popularity in Wales is shown by the Armes Prydein, a popular poem which prophesied that in the future, when all might seem lost, the Cymry (Welsh people) would unite behind the standard of David to defeat the English. So maybe could write a poem about nationalism.. or something […]
February Challenge
Okay, it’s too big to ignore. We’re confronted daily by the antithesis of Light… Here’s a poem by Edward Baugh: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/nightwalker and another by D.H. Lawrence. It’s worth listening to Glyn Maxwell read it as he adds an insight into Lawrence’s technique. http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/bavarian-gentians Poems about the dark can take many turns – political, natural, personal… They raise questions, too – can the […]
Membership
Membership of Cross Border Poets has reached bursting point. Regrettably, from January 2017 onwards, we are unable to accept new members but will review the situation in six months time.
January 2017 Challenge
In these short days (but getting longer, hurrah) here’s a poem by David Morley about light. More specifically, artificial light: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/way And here’s a completely different view of light from Dannie Abse: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/o-taste-and-see Artificial, natural or imagined – Light.
December Challenge 2016
Here’s a poem by Les Murray… He introduces it by saying “I keep a picture of my favourite phobia on the door of my study. It’s a fear of a road with a drop on one side, a corniche. And this poem is taken from that picture – it’s called ‘The Annals of Sheer’.” […]
November 2016 Challenge
So you’ve written 31 poems in the las 31 days and you can’t just give up the habit. Habits. Make what you will of them… Here’s a poem by Jonathan Edwards: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/nun-bicycle
On encountering the pearly gates
On encountering the pearly gates Goodbye is unexpected. If the gatekeeper isn’t St Peter it must be her, my first mother. She smiles a weird smile which I think means welcome. Goodbye I say, smiling back and she grabs hold of the gates and lifts them up, then lifts them higher. I remember my […]
Day 31
Just when you thought it was all over… Here’s a poem by Michael Laskey (to find it click the ‘The Work’ tab): http://www.poetrybusiness.co.uk/michael-laskey After it’s all over.
Day 30
The Last…?: Well, here we are at the end of another 30-day poetic marathon! (Methinks Martin doesn’t know there are 31 days in October. Will there be a final prompt tomorrow? [RMB]) Think of something you couldn’t possibly do without. Now, consider having to face up to savouring it one more time before it vanishes […]