Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
PPS NEWS
The Newsletter of the Preston Poets’ Society
Issue 66 Winter 2018
2
President
Vincent Smith
13 Woodford Copse, Chorley, PR7 2ER
01257 272929 07740 552217 [email protected]
Treasurer
Desmond Hicks
66 Millfield Road, Chorley PR7 1RE
01257 264571
Vice President
Terry Quinn
1 Meath Road, Broadgate, Preston PR1 8EP
01772 822649 [email protected]
Publicity Officer
Sue Hicks
6 Ox Hey Avenue, Lea, Preston PR2 1YD
01772 732734 [email protected]
Secretary
Dorothy Nelson
16, Greenslate Avenue, Appley Bridge, Wigan WN6 9LG
01257 254331 07786 503765
Web Coordinator
Lorna Smithers
7 Bank Parade, Penwortham, Preston PR1 9HQ
01772 740561 07847 240458
PPS Programme 2018
If enough members are interested, extra daytime meetings can be arranged for workshops.
Dorothy is willing to lead these. A small charge would be levied to cover costs.
Competitions
Pomfret Cup: 12-24 lines (Theme: Holidays) Deadline 15th February
Edna Margaret Rose Bowl: 12-32 lines (Theme: Countryside) Deadline 18th May
McDade Trophy max 60 lines (Theme: Behind closed doors) Deadline 16th August
MacKenzie Trophy: max 40 lines (Open Theme) Deadline 15th November
Jan 18th AGM and members’ poems
Feb 15th Members’ poems
Mar 15th Adjudication of Pomfret Cup plus members’ poems
Apr 19th Workshop draft poems by 3 members, to be arranged in advance.
May 17th Poets’ Project (1): Purple Patches – poems with beautiful verses/phrases
June Outing. Date & venue to be decided
Jun 21st Adjudication of Edna Margaret Rose Bowl plus members’ poems
July 19th Members’ poems
Aug 16th President’s Day
Sep 20th Adjudication of McDade Cup plus members’ poems
Oct 12th Joint meeting with Recorded Music Society (Theme to be decided )
Oct 18th Illustrated Talk by Vince Smith on Arts & Crafts era
Nov 15th Poets’ Project (2): emagazines
Dec 20th Christmas Party, adjudication of McKenzie Trophy and members’ poems
3
Editorial
Welcome to the first issue of the PPS Newsletter in 2018. I trust that you have had a
good break over the festive period and your poetic batteries have been charged ready for
the coming year.
During the December meeting of the Society mention was made of poetry emagazines
and their place within our poetry world. I think there is a general consensus that the
touch, feel and even smell of a paper based book or magazine is the best way to read
and experience poetry (or any type of reading matter).
However, not many people actually buy or subscribe to paper based poetry magazines.
It is a universal complaint from editors. I wouldn’t mind betting that less than 10% of
our Society’s members are subscribers to magazines. And being published in magazines
is the first step for most poets to develop their careers.
But there is a problem. If you’re mobile you can go down to Waterstones or a second
hand bookshop and buy a poetry book. But since Borders closed there are no simple and
straightforward methods of buying a printed magazine. You can subscribe but not many
people know what magazines are available or where to get them or, and in some cases,
the price is quite steep.
Which is where emagazines come in. If you are at home or travelling and feel the need
to read a poem, new or old, then you can quickly get on your computer or laptop and
have instant access to poetry from the UK and around the world that, in most cases, is
free. And the quality, and here you have to be careful, is the same as that in the printed
variety. But, there again, not all paper magazines are of decent quality.
Here are a few such emagazines. I have taken them as recommended from sites that
have their own editorial standards that echo those of the printed standard.
Ink, Sweat and Tears is a UK based webzine which publishes and reviews poetry,
prose-poetry, word & image pieces and everything in between.
The High Window is a quarterly review of poetry. Its aims are wide-ranging and non-
partisan. It publishes work in English by new and established poets from The UK and
around the world.
Cordite Poetry Review is a leading Australian poetry magazine. High standards and
international in outlook.
Rattle is an American site that feels poetry lost its way in the 20th century, to the point
that mainstream readers have forgotten how moving language alone can be
As I said there are thousands and you will eventually find one that suits your taste. To
help you find all the others I’d recommend: The Poetry Library, Poetry Kit, Write Out
Loud and The Poetry Shed. I would stress that a lot of these emagazines are not
bothered about your country of origin, they are only interested in poems.
Many thanks to Vince Smith as usual for getting this Newsletter printed and published.
Terry Quinn
4
Results of the McDade Trophy
Adjudicator: Suzanne Holt
Theme: The staircase
First: Vince Smith
Stairways
The stairway rose in one unhindered flight;
a static escalator brightly lit,
with no sign of a ceiling, gate or door
and no apparent ending but the sky.
We’d gallop upwards three steps at a time
and reach, well, not the stars but far enough
to gather all we needed to resolve
whatever life was asking at the time.
One day the staircase suddenly transformed
and spiralled like a strand of DNA,
with only ten or fifteen steps in view.
One never knew what obstacles might lurk
around the bend or if there might be doors,
locked or bolted on the other side.
It took a lot more time to work things out,
and outcomes were much less determinate.
Next the stairs ran squarely round a well
and every flight was down to seven steps.
Each riser was so steep one’s energy
was sapped before the intellect had time
to gather thoughts, much less to analyse
and forward vision seemed impossible.
Only shallow surfaces were scratched
and all too often vital jobs were botched.
And now we have the chilling Penrose stairs.
There are no obstacles and no locked doors,
the steps are gentle and the landings broad
and handrails have been fitted, thoughtfully.
The problem is you climb and four flights up,
you come out at the point where you began.
They lead to nothing and the chances are
that if you meet one you won’t even know.
It’s scary to imagine what comes next.
O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!
5
Second: Phil Howard
The Lodger
The hammerhead cloud clapped thunder
And the lodger -- a man of dreams --
Dropped dead on a creaking stair.
(Some say it was shock -- others wonder...)
The whole street heard Ma's awful screams
Next day when she found him lying there;
But after they'd taken him away
From the fused house and the scare
Was over she changed her tune.
"I'm glad 'e's snuffed it'", she said. "Fifty
Quid arrears 'e owed me, today
Bein' Friday, and 'e wuz shifty.
What's more, I'll let 'is soddin' room
Again for twice the rent. 'ooray!"
6
Third: Martin Domleo
Outdoor Lessons
Dove dale is a long way from Liverpool
for sore-bummed fourth-year juniors.
Walking in twos isn’t popular either.
Why not? I thought, and let them loose
heard the crunch and knock of boots on rock,
breathed the earth in its own right,
all the stuff I wanted for them
until a shriek gut speared, jerked me
upright, bounced between cliffs.
There was George, a white starfish,
stuck halfway up a limestone stack.
Water-worn steps swayed towards me.
Just in time I broke his fall.
A slip, a crack
of breaking bone. Pain, hardcore.
George walking away unscathed.
Look, there’s a coot.
It’s not a coot – it’s a moorhen!
You’re stupid, you. It’s a coot.
Then another voice: Annie White
from the block of flats in The Dingle
where the lift jammed solid every night
and they set out the washing
from window to window
across all eight floors: a tapestry,
glorious and defiant,
hanging like the Queen Mary
over the soot-stained school she went to;
the school with separate doors
for Boys and Girls, 1890
carved in stone on the wall between them.
Are you all right, sir? It had to be a girl.
7
An Event at the University of Central Lancashire
The Poetical Impulse The Drivers of Poetical Creativity
by four very different poets from the North of England:
Martin Domleo, Vince Smith, Nicolas Guy Williams, Gordon Aindow
The talk took place at UCLan’s Media Factory on 15th November 2018, and was part of
UCLan’s Great Northern Creative Festival which ran from 13th – 18
th November. The
inclusion of a poetry event, with PPS and Damson Poets members was sparked by a
request from Feixia Yu, the Director of UCLan’s Confucius Institute. Feixia has been
for several years now at the forefront of a drive to bring together Arts groups from
outside the University with those on the inside, and PPS and Damson Poets members
are extremely grateful to Feixia for this.
Feixia provided the idea of What is it that makes people want to write poetry? Martin
came up with the format and title. In bringing together four very different poets, it was
hoped that a broad spread of content would ensue. Each of the talks lasted about
eighteen minutes, at the end of which there was a question and answer session.
All went well. The talks were interesting and informative and were well received.
Martin said that he could have talked on the subject for an hour and a half by himself. In
this he was speaking for all the poets.
Mr. Alan Keegan for the University thanked the participants, and Feixia took us for tea
afterwards.
We are looking forward to further collaborations with the University, including a
special World Poetry Day event on 21st March, at which UCLan staff and students will
join Damson and PPS poets at Ham and Jam Coffee Shop. Start time will be 7.00 pm.
Martin Domleo
Members News
Bob Duddle has published his first book of poetry entitled Age and Experiences.
Terry Quinn has had poems in The Journal, The French Literary Review and Ink,
Sweat & Tears.
8
Results of the McKenzie Cup
Adjudicator: John Cassidy
Theme: Christmas/Winter
First: Vince Smith
Twelfth Night
Hand in hand through the chestnut groves,
in the columnar company
of theatrical ants, all marching in droves
to the door of the RST.
Still hand in hand all the afternoon
in seats of brand new baize,
at the edge of a stage that was decked and strewn
for one of our favourite plays.
A tale on the surface of laughter and love,
underneath of deception and lie,
that might lead us to wonder if ours might prove
too hard a knot to untie.
We sat in the Terrace, after the play,
near the window where no-one could hear,
exchanging presents for Christmas Day
and plans for the following year.
The lights in the Avon were gifts from the past
buried deep on a previous day,
the willows a promise of love that would last,
and that time could not wither away.
But what was the thought that your eyes couldn’t hide,
though the warmth still burned in your face,
at the corner of Sheep Street and Waterside,
where we stopped for a last embrace?
Acceptance at last of the honour, the care
and the duty your promises meant?
Or another romantic, more willing to share
in their cruel abandonment?
9
In a moment or two your bus would depart,
through the glass, the look in your eye
was softer now, but I knew in my heart
that this was our last goodbye.
I watched the bus through the driving rain
till its lights could be seen no more,
then the silence came down like a hurricane,
that deafened my ears with its roar.
For an hour or more, I walked round the town,
still clutching your paquet-cadeau,
full of wise saws, like Feste the Clown,
but alone, like Malvolio.
10
Second: Martin Domleo
Blackpool in Winter
Walking the wind-gnawed waste
between sea wall and tram
strips away what’s left of the glitz.
Behind the hotel facades
crumbling terraces sit out the seasons
in silent resignation –
a million miles from all that
fairground fury here and huge
before the lights went out.
A mug of tea in Joe’s Cafe
provides a warmth of sorts.
Plastic chairs, smell of bacon,
a steamed up window making out
it’s Christmas....
Hotel after hotel showing ‘vacancies’,
shops with the heating turned off,
a crooner ruffling against the wind
like a lost stag....
There’s no luxury yacht by the pier,
only flat ribbed sand.
The tide’s gone out with the profit
leaving remainers, like Marge
who’s been here since time began,
short and stumpy, hair wispy thin –
down at Treasure Island
pushing a last silver coin into the abyss.
Rolling in, rolling out.
Rolling in, rolling out....
Chips and peas as usual, please.
And: Yes, that’s right. No fish.
11
Third: Bridie Sutton
Nursing a Sick Child at Christmas
Christmas Day holds a memory
When dear little Edna relied on me.
I tried my best her wounds to heal.
My tender feelings were so real.
She was feeling down: dejected, sad.
I assured her that things were not so bad.
I lingered by her bed for a while
When through pain I saw her smile.
I assisted her to raise her head.
We untied her presents on her bed.
Those gifts, they were a link with home.
Her eyes filled. Then tears rolled.
My emotions felt the strain.
I said she’d soon be home again.
No personal gifts to exchange had we.
But I knew, and so did she.
The most precious gifts we could impart
Would come directly from the heart.
12
Commended: Phil Howard
Ornithology in the North West
The geese are back for their winter stay
I saw them from my bedroom window
Their skeins strung out across the sky
Towards a distant half-dead willow
At the sea marsh’s southern end.
Begs the question: what do they know;
What do they really understand?
They’re only doing what they have to do
Hitching a ride on a north west wind
But what says to them: ‘it’s time to go;’
To follow flyway and seek thermal
Down to Lune, Ribble, Mersey and Dee?
The awe-inspiring in the normal.
13
Rafael Serrallet In September 2014 Spanish classical guitarist Rafael Serrallet wrote to me asking if I
could help him to find a venue for a concert he would like to do whilst visiting relatives
in Poulton. Presumably he got my details from the PAA website (who said nobody
looks at it?) I think it was Browning who said “never the time and the place and the
loved one all together”. Substitute guitarist for loved one and that sums it up: it took a
year of negotiation to line all three up. Eventually Edmund Crighton agreed to insert an
extra lunchtime concert at St George’s and for good measure we managed it during our
festival weeks (2015). The concert was a great success in spite of the fact that the airline
had lost Rafael’s guitar and he had to borrow one to perform his concert. He was free
that evening but Edmund had a prior engagement and I was scheduled to front the joint
meeting between PPS and the Recorded Music Society, but I said he would be very
welcome to join us. To my surprise, he did. I’m not sure if he made much sense of our
poetic efforts and our choices of matching music but we tried to integrate him by
inviting him to choose a track from one of his CDs which I had bought after the concert.
Mike Cracknell did an good job of putting a poem together about Rafael’s lost guitar.
This article gives me a chance at last to print it:
The show went on
A musician named Rafael Serrallet
Flew over to England with Easy Jet.
But although he’s a star
They lost his guitar,
Which caused the maestro to fret.
Did he play his concert? You bet!
With some help from friends that he met,
He managed to borrow
A guitar for the morrow
And performed a magnificent set.
Last November Rafael contacted me again with a similar request. As it was so near to
Christmas, the churches were fully engaged but Richard Lowthian of Ham and Jam was
delighted to make that venue available. Accordingly, we enjoyed another brilliant
concert in much more informal surroundings, although it was one of the coldest nights
of the year. At one point Rafael glanced out of the window between items and said “oh
look, it’s snowing!” This time, he had his Malaysian wife with him and afterwards she
took the above photo and emailed it to me. They were off to Kuala Lumpur the
following day. A week or so later Rafael sent Christmas greetings in the form of a video
in which he played a beautiful carol whilst sitting short-sleeved on a wall in Kuala
Lumpur. What a contrast with Preston’s snow.
There was an unexpected bonus for PAA after the concert. Rafael insisted on donating
his share of the proceedings to next year’s festival fund. Shortly afterwards his wife
came up to me, saying she had sold a few CDs and wanted us to have that as well. It
was a lovely gesture from a lovely couple. I hope we will see them in Preston again, and
next time it would be good if we could pay him rather than the other way round.
14
