I know it’s been a little while since I posted – still no joy when trying to upload photos – it’s jinxed – must be a Wolves supporting blog! Anyway, I’ve been trying to focus on finishing off two pieces for the Big Chill show, so here’s one of them…. it’s in the voice of an overexcited little boy. Inspired by many who I met at various WBA kids sessions….. so here goes…..

This is an extract from Rukus’s performance at the Apples & Snakes event Holding Our Ground in May 09.
He debuts new material from his residency on the streets of Derby.

Dear all, sorry for not having blogged for ages. it’s been such a privilege to see Emma’s piece shape shift and grow, and now, at this stage , these voices have come through, and her gift is that they can be clearly seen in the minds eye.In my head, i know what they look like, what they are wearing, and how they might be feeling in their hearts. there are even characters who are only refered to in” voices off”, who people this piece now, people that danni speaks to, which i think is a stroke of genius. i;m posting it, with a few of my comments. here it is.

Two poems on the same theme here, both inspired by the unremitting marketing presented by Cabot Circus’ numerous chain stores.

The first is my personal favourite, although I m fairly confident I’ll be alone in that thought. It’s a bit strange and oblique and features clown committing a sex act in the proximity of a salad (those of you with a sensitive disposition have been warned). I really like its dark, acerbic imagery and the fact that its laden with words that are really satisfying to wrap your gob around means its going to be loads of fun to spit at an audience. Ten points to anyone who gets The Goonies reference.

Jo Bell told me about a Sharon Olds Poem called First Sex …. and so I wrote my own one after one of our mentoring sessions. It contains a slightly explicit line, so don’t continue reading if you’re of a delicate disposition. Jo describes it as excruciatingly honest…. which it is:)

The First Voice by Emma McGordon

HELLO ALL, POEM COMES AFTER MY COMMENTS…SAVE THE BEST TILL LAST.

Re..APoem for Voices.

Hello Emma,

I’ve tried reading the poem lots of ways to check out the narrative. So, I read all the colours together..ie..all the blue, then all the green, red, magenta to see if they stood on their own as small narratives, which they did. Then tested on my daughter to see if she could tell which were the different voices. (Hard, because just me reading them) Anyway, she COULD tell when the voices changed…which is a very good sign…..!

I think the narrative voices are very clear. It might be the fact that I work with Theatre companies a lot, but I imagined the voices all doing an activity…ie..The green voice, voice of the worker, I saw her looking up from paper work as she talks. It stands out from the other voices, as its very domestic, which is great, gives a good contrast to the other voices, which have a strong inner life full of imagery. The poets voice, with her notebook, writing and crossing out…and the other voices, sitting on a bed…new sheets folded at the end of it, waiting for the new occupant.

I particularly love the magenta voice……beautiful is the word I would use, the protaganists creating homes in each others bodies, fantastic notion, I almost wanted more of that voice…I know you may have put a repeat of the “thursday” verse in by accident at the end, but I like it…if you do keep the repeat in. maybe it should end on

“that will build mansions where others see slums. “

although the pearl and oyster verse is a great ending too.

Konnichiwa reader. Sorry that I missed my blog yesterday. I’m sat in my pyjamas feeling sorry for myself. I’ve got some kind of infection that has made my eyes swell up to the point that I can barely see out of them. I look like a pathogenic Muppet. My face is like some mucus based facsimile of Angel Falls. I don’t mean to get histrionic, especially in the current climate, but the symptoms speak for themselves. I’ve obviously contracted a severe case of man flu. Let the whineathon commence!

Eeek! I’m a bit trepidatious about deconstructing my writing process. I see creative offerings in the same way I see magic tricks, I enjoy them much more if I don’t know how they’re done.

For me the trigger for a poem can be just about anything. Something will occur that elicits an emotional response and I’ll scribble a couple of lines in my pad. I’ll leaf through these notes at a later date and if something grabs my attention amongst the often incomprehensible dirge, I’ll isolate myself from distraction and expand upon it.

Here’s a work in progress, have a listen if you have the time and I’ll explain a bit about its conception.

Welcome to England from byron vincent on Vimeo.

Talking to people in and around St Pauls the issue of immigration came up too frequently to ignore.

So I’m in a cake shop yesterday in London, and got a phone call from a Radio 2 producer to distract me from my chocolate and hazelnut brownies. They’ve asked me to go on Claudia Winkleman’s arts show tomorrow night (Friday) to talk for 5 minutes about Carol Ann Duffy and have asked me to write a short poem about her – yikes! So, if you have a thought about her work – I’m all ears, I’d like to reflect a collective of poets opinions:)

I love her Valentine poem, and may write something linking with a vegetable, although how can I compare to describing an onion as ‘a moon wrapped in brown paper’ I loved Jay’s poem about potatoes on here, so the vegetables are a running theme….