Me
Like a lot of people I have kept the poems I have written to myself, but having just published a small collection of poems about people living in food poverty, it seems pointless not to tell anyone about them. And this blog might encourage me to write more if for no other reason than to keep it going.
I live in Dalston, Hackney which when I moved here over 30 years ago wasn’t at all cool. I was brought up in Hastings and that now is incredibly cool with people living in Hackney. Not sure it there is any connection here.
I don’t have any real hobbies but I do swim – for exercise rather than pleasure – and do beginners’ tai chi. I also have a small garden at the foot of an enormous London Plane which drops leaves and bark most of the time, creates shade and dries out the soil but it is a magnificent beast. Quite a few birds visit the garden including elusive long tailed tits and a very nervous greater spotted woodpecker. Squirrels seem to be on their holidays and have been absent for at least a month.
My Poetry
My first book of poems is loosely based on clients that I’ve met at Hackney Foodbank where I’ve been volunteering for over five years. It is titled Have You Ever Seen A Cow Eat Eggs, and has illustrations by Salvatore Rubbino.
Copies are available from Waterstones and Pages of Hackney or you can order a copy directly from me. Priced at £10:00, all profits will go to Hackney Foodbank