Corn Felt Crake On the delights of J.H. Prynne

A short piece on the strange pleasures to be found in the poetry of J.H. Prynne

Very sad to hear this. English poetry when I became more involved in it was dominated by Prynne and Hill -- I was thinking only today about what etymology meant to both of them after seeing a picture of Prynne's dictionary full of notes. Glad such good work as this marks the passing of a major poet.

Is this also an example of a social media pylon?

Keats Shelley Poetry Prize announced. Congrats to winner @pascalepetit.bsky.social and thanks to judge @notjustdancing.bsky.social Here’s my runner up poem ‘Some Seasonal Adjustments’
keats-shelley.org/prize_entrie...

Congratulations Mark -- again!

There's a lot of these in Leeds --this is about to become one in Beeston -- and it leads me to wonder:

At what age should you tell a road it had been adopted?

WTF?

"Do you expect me to talk?"

“No, Mr Bond; I expect you to explode!”

I could deffo have seen Geoffrey Hill in this clobber

Jeff and Susie Greene from 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' in a previous life.

"You've given me a 'poem' YOU wrote for MY birthday! What: they'd run out of flowers at the garage?"

I think Fuseli told a student to take his effort into a field and shoot it, and I guess this trail boss would offer similarly forthright feedback

My poem for Elio Cruz, which I read with Gib troubadour Gabriel Moreno alludes to my brother Tom's time in the navy during Suez. What the Pythia told Croesus about an empire falling if he invades Persia seems reflected both in Suez and the Strait of Hormuz.

Irish 1926 Census went online this morning and here's my Dad at 11, probably already having left school, four years into the Free State and the year The Committee on Evil Literature was set up by the set up by the Department of Justice, sadly not to foster it: nationalarchives.ie/collections/...

Damn right and its first test will be on the White House Ballroom the day it's finished

Image: The Blasphemy Project 2.0

No ideas but in whatevers

Pete Hegseth Quotes ‘Pulp Fiction’ Fake Bible Verse at Pentagon Prayer Service Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth meant to invoke holy scripture in discussing the rescue mission of an American fighter pilot stranded in Iran -- but he actually quoted Quentin Tarantino.

Give him a break: I confuse Tarentinino's script with the AV all the time: 'Then Jesus saith unto the interrupting motherfucker, I don't remember asking you a Goddamn thing!'

variety.com/2026/film/ne...

Snow was general all over Stroud. It was falling upon the Tesco Express from its toilet seats and, further westwards, falling into its car park. It was falling too upon the chained trolleys. It lay drifted upon the dashboard of James Joyce's BMW . . .

US Treasury Secretary appears to call it the 'Strait of Vermouth' Scott Bessent appeared to misname the Strait of Hormuz when discussing talks with Iran.

"The Straight of Vermouth have not been completely reopened so there may be a martini crisis to go with those of oil and gas"

metro.co.uk/video/us-tre...

Think I'll go to Vance's ancestral hillbilly home and lecture them on how to feud

eliot looks a bit angry, woolf suspicious

i like this photo where it looks like you've interrupted t.s. eliot and virginia woolf in the middle of planning your murder

Still a few spaces left! I’m so looking forward to coming to the wonderful Poetry Pharmacy in Bishops’ Castle on Sunday. Do join us to share, create and enjoy poetry together. ✍️💥☕️
@poetrypharmacy.bsky.social @ninearchespress.bsky.social

"I'm STILL NOT A DOCTOR, Satan: if you slip a disc carrying me like this, there will be nothing I can do about it!"

This sign appeared when Nigel Farage paid a flying visit to Shetland recently.

Apparently it was put up by the Tourist Board.

"I don't care who you've been talking to Satan, I'm not a doctor and I have no idea what to advise you about your ingrowing toenail!"

Starting out on a new poem

Image: 'Outdoor Test' by Hungarian artist Endre Tot, 1980

Happy Birthday Beckett!

Pitch N Putt with Beckett and Joyce YouTube video by wyllieohagan

Happy birthday Beckett! Here he is playing pitch'n'putt with Joyce

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbF5...

Sheds can take a long time to process grief

I'm thinking of organising a blockade of Trump's blockade of Iran's blockade.

Selected ships will be allowed through shorter and shorter distances until they are stopped again.

It will be called 'Operation Zeno'.

Threatening Il Papa was a BIG mistake