Our footprints, the tracks of our play,
going all ways, ran deep along the shore.
All our lives we laughed along the stretch,
we laughed at simple games, splashing
through pools of silver, across sands of
burnished gold. We laughed against the sky
and you listened to young voices,
spellbound, time out of mind.
That day, the wind whipped the waves,
the swell surged, we were beaten
by torrents, caught in the rising storm,
the crash, deafening.
We floundered, soaked to the bone.
The light was cold, so very cold
and we shouted as we saw you,
separate, tides encircling,
gazing out in silence.
We saw your still, bowed head,
as if in prayer. The rip took your feet,
and you were taken, consumed,
the falling man.
We took your arms, hands,
searched in eyes of ages blue,
taking that curve of jaw, seeing your soul
as a burning ship and still your head was bowed.
As the tide slipped, you were so white, so white,
kissed by time's silent lips.
No cry, nor whisper, a cross shape near
crested roar and the people you love
carry you from the shore
For more on Matthew check the link below
Honorary Wolfpack Contributor: Matthew M C Smithhttps://feversofthemind.com/2021/02/23/poetry-interview-with-matthew-m-c-smith-black-bough-poetry/
Q1: When did you start writing and first influences?
Alan:
I began writing in my teens. I wanted to be a songwriter, I was a songwriter. A bloody awful one, but one all the same. Through my late teens I got into The Doors in a big way, I’ve now a bunch of themed, Doors tattoos. I really dug Dylan, The Specials, and Frank Zappa too. I liked the anger, the rebellion, the demand for justice that they displayed. My early work had a lot of that about it. It’s not very good and much of it has been lost (Phew).
At school, I was very interested in the diasporic writers that were on the syllabus at the time, as well as Adrian Henri and John Cooper Clarke, who I met at a gig when I was fifteen. He just oozed cool.
Q2: Who are your biggest influences today?
Alan:
Well, I’m heavily influenced by what I’m reading, and I’ve not read lots of poetry recently, save for a pair of Andrew McMillan collections I was gifted in April.
It would be remiss of me to ignore the poetry community I’m a part of. Poets like Dave Hanlon and Eli Horan who write explicitly about personal experience have influenced my most recently finished collection. I wanted to mine my own life and be a little more introspective and reading their work and listening to them read helped that endeavour.
Q3: Where did you grow up and how did that influence your writing? Have any travels away from home influence your work/describe?
Alan: I grew up in Southport, just north of Liverpool. Half my family are scouse musicians. The music they play and talked about helped me learn about phrasing and I think my best work has a musicality about it, which is owing to that grounding.
I spent some time in Cuba which did much the same. I sat in the bar that Hemingway sat in, how could I not be inspired? Also, a lot of my more recent work is inspired by holidaying with family in North Wales, even if it is something as simple as the name of a hymn, or a jellied slate path I remember that finds its way into a poem.
ernesthemingwaycollection.com
Q4: What do you consider the most meaningful work you’ve done creatively so far?
Alan:
Well, in terms of my own work, putting out my debut collection Neon Ghosts was a massive deal. I learned a lot from the process, and I feel that it lends me authenticity as an editor to have been through that process. I’ve had other offers for more recent collections that I have turned down, because they didn’t feel right. But that first one was always going to be the hardest.
My forthcoming collection is more personal and means more to me, due to the people I write about, the places I go, and how I handle them. I hope I will be seen to have done them justice.
However, my most meaningful work is probably the work I do with The Broken Spine, where we are trusted with other artists work, and we give a leg up to young and emerging artists. https://thebrokenspine.co.uk/shop/
Q5: Any pivotal moment when you knew you wanted to be a poet/writer?
Alan: Yeah, a barbecue with a friend from school. We were going to write a hit sitcom together and put on a production of Macbeth after school. It never happened. He had gone to uni and started writing with somebody else, I’d gotten married and had children. I went back to education on the back of that night. I took a creative writing module, developed a monologue for the stage and started writing poetry again. That was the spur.
Q6: Favorite activities to relax?
Alan: I love watching live stand up comedy, and live music. I could go to a gig every night and never get bored. Visiting new places is cool, swimming in the sea is freeing, but I can’t escape my love for the arts. For me that trumps nature.
Q7: Any recent or forthcoming projects you’d like to promote?
Alan: I have a forthcoming collection of twenty something poems, but cannot really say much about that right now. It is with a small press, who have promised me creative control and that was hugely important to me.
I cannot escape plugging what we do at The Broken Spine, it sort of defines me right now. Eating up most of my spare time, we’ve just released Stuart M Buck’s latest chapbook, Blue the Green Sky and reviews have been incredible.
I’m in the very early stages of creating a new series under The Broken Spine umbrella, with Stuart M Buck. BOLD Arts Zine will publish work that is centred on the theme of masculinity. It is inspired by my academic research and our mutual love of coming of age literature, especially The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Andrew McMillan’s work.
Q8: What is a favorite line from a poem of yours or others?
Alan:
Well, I think the best line I ever wrote is in a poem from a collection that is about my hometown, I worked with Paul Robert Mullen, Mary Earnshaw, and David Walshe to complete that project. It’s out for submission right now, that line is…
‘cars, abandoned by amblers& twilight photographers,collect like dead flies on a windowsill’
It says a great deal about my Southport.
My favourite line of somebody else’s work, well this is a toss up between this from Stuart M Buck’s ‘Maps’…
‘… the last time i saw guy taylor was yesterdayand my teacher says i will never see him againand if i am lucky i will be let back into schoolbut by god if i ever so much as touch anyonehe will throw me out and my mum is sad andmy dad is sad and i am sad because i do notknow if guy is sad…’
And this from Bukowski’s’ The Mockingbird’..
‘… yesterday the cat walked calmly up the drivewaywith the mockingbird alive in its mouth,wings fanned, beautiful wings fanned and flopping,feathers parted like a woman’s legs…’
Jay Rafferty, Lizzie Kemball and Dave Hanlon deserve special mention for the advice they offered via our small community of poets. And of course David Walshe and Mary Earnshaw for their help improving my work in that hometown collection. Books to Read in 2021: Spectrum of Flight by David Hanlon
Q1: When did you start writing and first influences?
Roger: Creative writing has always been important to me since schooldays, mainly in the form of keeping an irregular journal of thoughts/observations. I became more intent about six years ago through contact with a community arts group near Norwich; their Facilitator/Founder Wendy Shaw was instrumental in giving me confidence to express myself. Significant writerly influences included Billy Collins, Alyson Hallett, Imtiaz Dharker, William Stafford, Natalie Goldberg and Jo Bell.
Q2: Who are some of your biggest influences today?
Roger: Rather than give a single name I’d say that it’s important for me to be exposed to the behind-the-scenes working practices of a range of creative people – poets, other writers, artists, sculptors, photographers, designers…….. I find real inspiration and craft-guidance from anyone attempting a physical manifestation of how the world makes them feel.
Q3: Where did you grow up and how did that influence your writing/art?
Roger: I grew up in Wallasey on Merseyside, opposite the river from Liverpool. I saw a lot of poverty, aspiration, good humour and kindness all of which must surely find their way into my writing somewhere, along with a sense that there’s life away from fashionable centres. Most consciously growing up alongside the Sea created a hole in my mind and heart that can only be filled by regular visits to the coast and writing in response to that.
Q4: Have any travels away from home influence your work/describe?
Roger: Travels away from home that have influenced my work – the most significant would be a week’s stay on the Isle of Harris a few years ago. Exposure to the amazing, elemental nature of the place blew my mind and I hope creeps into my writing to give it a sense of glimpses now-and-then of grandeur without limits.
Q5: Any pivotal moment when you knew you wanted to be a writer?
Roger: Five years ago I read a small four-line poem to a group of people some of whom really got the feeling I was trying to convey – the excitement to me of that moment fueled a desire to try some more!
Q6: Favorite activities to relax?
Roger: Walking – anywhere (town, country, wild or managed); watching cricket or American football; reading crime fiction or ‘interesting’ novels; listen to jazz or classical musical; photography; enjoying a nice meal/wine; spend time with friends; documentary tv/radio; the physical bits of gardening.
Q7: Any recent or forthcoming projects you’d like to promote?
Roger: ? I’ve been trying to put together a pamphlet/chapbook and would like to get that nailed and accepted somewhere. I’ve had some encouragement in that direction with longlisting in a recent competition (Frosted Fire Firsts) which has given me the ‘umph’ to put a bit of effort into it! I’d like to find an affordable mentoring opportunity in the next year or so as I’ve more than a suspicion that I need a bit of steering.
Q8: A Favorite line from one of your poems/writings?
Roger:
“incisions in the sky, blown into diminishing swathes whispering / whisper / wisp” (From the poem ‘Contrails’)
Q9: Who has helped you most with writing?
Roger: Alyson Hallett was an enormous help in getting me kick-started six years ago and Jo Bell has had a continuing beneficial influence. Workshop/interviews with Caroline Bird have been marvelous. Most directly over the last 12 months I’ve found the #TopTweetTuesday twitter community established by Matthew Smith (Black Bough Poetry) to have been a great help in trying out different approaches to writing………, continuing to be grateful to them all. In both practical and emotional terms I’d have to say my wife, Jo, has been and continues to be instrumental in me continuing to explore this way to express myself – thanks Jo xx
After a midlife rediscovery of creative pursuits I’ve been making up for lost time, giving rein to an interest in photographing things that draw my attention and putting pen to paper poetically. My inspiration is largely drawn from the historical, geological, biological & sociological layers in the world around us. Twitter @RogerHare6
When editor Matthew M. C. Smith has an idea he goes all out. He looks for and seeks out challenges that generates wonderful ideas, poetry & art from contributors to the Black Bough brand.
His latest baby is “Dark Confessions” a book that explores a variety of themes such as isolation, confinement, disease and corruption. This is a prelude to a second edition which will focus on themes of ‘Freedom’ and ‘Rapture’ which is brought about as a tribute to poet/singer Jim Morrison (50 years after his passing) and the idea of “Riders on the Storm” and Blondie’s “Rapture” a very interesting idea indeed.
Matthew knows many wonderful artists & poets through the communities. He’s got a wonderful poet co-editor on board with Kari Flickinger, as well as co-editors Ness Owen & Ranjabali Chaudhuri. The artistic design of the book(s) come from designer Darren Green, from Swansea. Very visually appealing and leaving you wanting to begin to tap into the human feeling, the edginess that the human brain tip-toes on. That comes from Dark Confessions.
This series is dedicated to Welsh poet Dai Fry (a Fevers of the Mind Poets of 2020 contributor as well) who had an untimely passing as the book was going into publication. Please read his work below for a sample of his work in Fevers
The contributors of writing & art in “Dark Confessions” is a who’s who of current day poets that are putting out life changing pieces everyday and should be looked at more often.
Contributors such as Matthew M. C. Smith, Elizabeth Barton, Tara Skurtu, M.S. Evans, Marian Christie, Eileen Carney Hulme, Ness Owen, Claire Loader, Jonathan Braceras, Ranjabali Chaudhuri, Steve Jensen, Devon Marsh, Kari Flickinger, Briony Collins, Jeffrey Yamaguchi, James Lilley, Adwaita Das, Daniel Blick, Kim M. Russell, Alan Parry, Dominic Weston, Sophie Livingston, Philip Berry, Mike Farren, Rich Schilling, George Sandifer Smith, Tolu Oloruntoba, Maeve McKenna, Tom Lagasse, Liz McGrath, Jo Gatford, Elinor Ann Walker, Billy Fenton, Nick Newman, Roger Hare, Elizabeth Spencer Spragins, Julie Mullen, Emry Trantham, Andy MacGregor, Daniel Fraser, Wendy Humphries, Dai Fry, Anthony Paticchio, Ankh Spice, Natalie Ann Holborow, Mark Antony Owen and i’m hoping i’m not leaving anyone out, because this is quite the list.
I’m still reading this collection which was gifted to me to read, and some of these poems I keep re-reading because the imagery has to be rested on for awhile and just mingle with your mind tingles for a bit. You can feel the emotives that are put out there, and do you dance with that emotion, do you hide from that emotion, do you cry for awhile in those emotions, do you smile from the creative wordplay?
Polish Mother Bones by M.S. Evans “Each of us has roses in our throats”
Mercy by Tara Skurtu
"You can easily be
forgotten in the unforgiving
blood of the family"
Just an example of some lines from these creative poems.
You will definitely want to check this series out from the brilliant Matthew M. C. Smith's latest endeavor in a collective poetic magnum opus.
Honorary Wolfpack Contributor: Matthew M C Smith
Fevers of the Mind 