The Poetry Exchange

In this episode you will hear Tom talking about the poem that has been a friend to him - 'The Lake Isle Of Innisfree' by W. B. Yeats.

Tom visited us at HOME in Manchester. We are very grateful to HOME for hosting The Poetry Exchange - you can discover more about them and their work here:

www.homemcr.org

Tom is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members, Fiona Bennett and Alastair Snell.

'The Lake Isle Of Innisfree' is read by Fiona Bennett.

*****

The Lake Isle Of Innisfree

by W.B. Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

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In this episode you will hear writer and performer Roxy Dunn talking about the poem that has been a friend to her - 'How The World Gets Bigger' by Alyson Hallett.

Roxy Dunn is a poet, scriptwriter, performer and novelist. A graduate of the BBC Comedy Writersroom, Roxy has acted in multiple television sitcoms and her shows have received sell-out runs at The Edinburgh Fringe and SOHO Theatre. Her scripts have been optioned by several production companies and her comedy pilot Useless Millennials was commissioned and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She is the author of two poetry pamphlets: Clowning (Eyewear) and Big Sexy Lunch (Verve Press) and her debut novel, As Young as This will be published by Fig Tree in April 2024.

Roxy visited us at Pushkin House in London. We are very grateful to Pushkin House for hosting The Poetry Exchange so warmly. Thank you also to poet, Alyson Hallett for kindly granting permission for us to use this poem.

'How The World Gets Bigger' is no longer in print but Alyson still holds a few copies. If you would like to buy a copy, you can contact her directly via the weblink above.

Roxy is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange hosts Fiona Bennett and Michael Shaeffer.

'How The World Gets Bigger' is read by Fiona Bennett

*****

How The World Gets Bigger

by Alyson Hallett

This morning there's a note pinned to your door

explaining why you've had to rush out

and cancel our meeting. I turn back into

the rain, watch it falling on tarmac, rivering

in gutters, little bullets exploding. I unbutton

my jacket, lift my face to the sky. This is better

than crying; nowehere to be and nothing to do.

I walk the christened pavement, cherry tree

hung like a chandelier, the corner at the end

of the road suddenly appealing, the way it

turns without revealing what lies beyond.

From The Stone Library (Peterloo Poets, 2007) www.thestonelibrary.com

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In this episode you will hear writer, editor and all-round-champion of Carribean literature Nicholas Laughlin talking about the poem that has been a friend to him - 'Proem' by Martin Carter.

Nicholas Laughlin is programme director of the Bocas Lit Fest, based in Trinidad and Tobago, which runs an annual literary festival, a series of literary prizes, and year-round writer development and literary promotion activities for Caribbean authors. He is also editor of The Caribbean Review of Books and the arts and travel magazine Caribbean Beat, and co-director of the contemporary arts space Alice Yard. His book of poems The Strange Years of My Life was published in 2015. He was born and has always lived in Port of Spain, Trinidad. You can discover more of Nicholas Laughlin's thoughts and writings here: nicholaslaughlin.net

Nicholas is one of our first 'long distance' visitors and joined us via Skype, from Trinidad. Nicholas is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members, John Prebble and Andrea Witzke Slot, who were together in London for the conversation.

Our thanks to Bloodaxe Books for kindly granting us permission to use 'Proem', which can be found in 'University of Hunger: Collected Poems & Selected Prose by Martin Carter, ed. Gemma Robinson (2006).

'Proem' is read by both John and Andrea.

*****

Proem

by Martin Carter

Not, in the saying of you, are you

said. Baffled and like a root

stopped by a stone you turn back questioning

the tree you feed. But what the leaves hear

is not what the roots ask. Inexhaustibly,

being at one time what was to be said

and at another time what has been said

the saying of you remains the living of you

never to be said. But, enduring,

you change with the change that changes

and yet are not of the changing of any of you.

Ever yourself, you are always about

to be yourself in something else ever with me.

Martin Carter, University of Hunger: Collected Poems & Selected Prose, ed. Gemma Robinson (Bloodaxe Books, 2006).

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In this episode you will hear the founder and co-host of The Poetry Exchange, Fiona Bennett talking about the poem that has been a friend to her - 'A Kite for Aibhín' by Seamus Heaney.

Fiona founded The Poetry Exchange in 2014 and it is wonderful to hear her in the guest's chair, talking about a poem that means so much to her.

You can discover more about Seamus Heaney's work here: www.seamusheaneyhome.com. 'A Kite for Aibhín' can be found in 'Human Chain' by Seamus Heaney, published by Faber & Faber, 2010. Our huge thanks to Faber & Faber for granting us permission to share Heaney's poem with you in this way.

The Poetry Exchange team had a wonderful few days together in Carcassonne, South of France last year and it was here that Fiona joined fellow Poetry Exchange team members, John Prebble and Becca Manley to talk about her friend.

'A Kite For Aibhín' is read by Becca Manley.

*****

A Kite For Aibhín

by Seamus Heaney

After 'L'Aquilone' by Giovanni Pascoli (1855-1912)

Air from another life and time and place,

Pale blue heavenly air is supporting

A white wing beating high against the breeze,

And yes, it is a kite! As when one afternoon

All of us there trooped out

Among the briar hedges and stripped thorn,

I take my stand again, halt opposite

Anahorish Hill to scan the blue,

Back in that field to launch our long-tailed comet.

And now it hovers, tugs, veers, dives askew,

Lifts itself, goes with the wind until

It rises to loud cheers from us below.

Rises, and my hand is like a spindle

Unspooling, the kite a thin-stemmed flower

Climbing and carrying, carrying farther, higher

The longing in the breast and planted feet

And gazing face and heart of the kite flier

Until string breaks and—separate, elate—

The kite takes off, itself alone, a windfall.

'A Kite for Aibhín'. Taken from 'Human Chain' by Seamus Heaney (published by Faber & Faber Limited, 2010)

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In this episode you will hear renowned actor Andrew Scott talking about the poem that has been a friend to him - 'Love (III)' by George Herbert.

Andrew visited us Battersea, London and is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members Fiona Bennett and Michael Schaeffer.

'Love' is read by Michael Schaeffer.

*****

Love (III)

by George Herbert

Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back,

Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack

From my first entrance in,

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning

If I lacked anything.

‘A guest,’ I answered, ‘worthy to be here.’

Love said, ‘You shall be he.’

‘I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,

I cannot look on thee.’

Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,

‘Who made the eyes but I?’

‘Truth Lord; but I have marred them; let my shame

Go where it doth deserve.’

‘And know you not,’ says Love, ‘who bore the blame?’

‘My dear, then I will serve.’

‘You must sit down,’ says Love, ‘and taste my meat:’

So I did sit and eat.

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In this episode you will hear Lisa talking about the poem that has been a friend to her - 'How Surely Gravity's Law' by Rainer Maria Rilke.

Lisa visited us at John Ryland's Library in Manchester and is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members Fiona Bennett and Michael Shaeffer.

'How Surely Gravity's Law' is read by Fiona Bennett.

*****

How Surely Gravity's Law

by Rainer Maria Rilke

How surely gravity’s law,

strong as an ocean current,

takes hold of the smallest thing

and pulls it toward the heart of the world.

Each thing—

each stone, blossom, child —

is held in place.

Only we, in our arrogance,

push out beyond what we each belong to

for some empty freedom.

If we surrendered

to earth’s intelligence

we could rise up rooted, like trees.

Instead we entangle ourselves

in knots of our own making

and struggle, lonely and confused.

So like children, we begin again

to learn from the things,

because they are in God’s heart;

they have never left him.

This is what the things can teach us:

to fall,

patiently to trust our heaviness.

Even a bird has to do that

before he can fly.

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In this episode, our guest is John Davis, who talks with us about the poem that has been a friend to him - 'Return' by C. P. Cavafy, translated by Rae Dalven.

John is our first 'Long Distance' visitor to The Poetry Exchange via Skype! Joining us from Athens, John is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members, Fiona Bennett and John Prebble, who were in London for the conversation.

'Return' is read by John Prebble.

*****

Return

by C.P. Cavafy, translated by Rae Dalven

Return often and take me,

beloved sensation, return and take me -

when the memory of the body awakens,

and old desire runs again through the blood;

when the lips and the skin remember,

and the hands feel as if they touch again.

Return often and take me at night,

when the lips and the skin remember...

From The Complete Poems of C.P. Cavafy, translated by Rae Dalven, with an introduction by W.H. Auden, New York 1961.

The reading of the Greek poem you can hear in this episode is from: C.P. Cavafy, The Collected Poems, OUP 2007 (includes a parallel Greek/English text).

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In this episode you will hear Dan Simpson talking about the poem that has been a friend to him - 'This Poem' by Salena Godden.

Our huge thanks to Dan for joining us and speaking so eloquently and openly about his friendship with this poem. And to the ever-wonderful Salena Godden for granting us permission to feature the poem in this way. 'This Poem' can be found in Salena's collection 'Fishing In The Aftermath - Poems 1994-2014' from Burning Eye Books (2014).

Dan visited us in Lambeth, London and is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members Fiona Bennett and Al Snell.

'This Poem' is read by Al Snell.

*****

This Poem

by Salena Godden

This poem is not designed.

And this poem is not the map.

It is not written to give you something to relate to.

This poem will not be the words you recite to your lover in the night.

This poem will not be the words you scratch

into your prison cell walls with bleeding nails.

This poem is not designed to arouse you or even confuse you.

This poem will not make you laugh or cry or feel.

It will not be the lines that make you remember how to live.

It will not remind you of the time you cut your finger sledging,

as vivid as blood in the snow

and everlasting as the scar made that day.

This poem does not taste like old five-pence pieces,

and it will not sound like an ice cream van in summertime.

This poem will not enlighten you like a Buddhist prayer.

It will not fill you with wonder at the human condition.

This poem will not feed you like potatoes and gravy

and it will not answer your questions of being alone in this.

This poem cannot be your friend

or explain that reoccurring chewing-gum dream.

It will not stop you calling out in the night in cold and acrid sweat.

This poem cannot help you.

It will not inspire you to take up writing or even to continue.

This poem is not the way in or the way out.

It will not feel like winning and it will not feel like losing.

This poem will not make your bus come sooner.

It will not make your cake rise or guess the lottery numbers.

This poem is not written to be anything other than

what you want to read into it,

and if you expect a poem to ever do anything more

then you should read this full stop.

Salena Godden - 'Fishing In The Aftermath - Poems 1994-2014' by Burning Eye Books (2014).

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In this episode you will hear poet Joolz Sparkes talking about the poem that has been a friend to her - 'Dulce et decorum est' by Wilfred Owen.

Joolz visited us in Lambeth, London and is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members Fiona Bennett and Michael Shaeffer.

Dulce et Decorum Est is read by Michael Shaeffer.

*****

Dulce et Decorum Est

by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—

Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

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In this episode you will hear extraordinary actor Paterson Joseph talking about the poem that has been a friend to him - '5 AM' by Roxy Dunn.

Paterson Joseph is a beloved British actor and writer. Recently seen on Vigil and Noughts and Crosses, he has also starred in Peep Show and Law & Order UK and he plays Arthur Slugworth in the forthcoming Wonka movie. Paterson's debut novel is The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho, published by Dialogue Books in 2022 to great acclaim. https://www.dialoguebooks.co.uk/titles/paterson-joseph/the-secret-diaries-of-charles-ignatius-sancho/9780349702360/

Paterson visited us at The October Gallery in London. We are very grateful to The October Gallery for hosting The Poetry Exchange so warmly.

Thank you also to the Roxy Dunn for kindly granting permission for us to use the poem in this way. Roxy Dunn is a bold and brilliant writer with many strings to her bow...you can find out more about her work in this fabulous interview with Verve Poetry Press, which publishes her collection 'Big Sexy Lunch'. Her debut collection (in which '5AM' features) is 'Clowning', from Eyewear Publishing.

Please also feel free to explore more about Kiki Dimoula, the Poet behind Fiona's emerging friend, 'The Wrong Arrangement'.

Paterson is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members Fiona Bennett and Michael Schaeffer.

'5AM' is read by Michael Schaeffer

*****

5AM

by Roxy Dunn

It's not quite light

am I getting old?

old people wake early

half a croissant is on the desk

like a squashed crescent

and there's that record I bought

with the Soviet rocket sleeve

Around the corner in Highbury

Keith's cat has given you fleas

your bags are packed for Antibes

I wonder if I care about the right things

like rabbits dying slowly and Brexit

sometimes I’m secretly unfazed

I feel selfish and middle-aged

I'd like to play this rocket record

but I don't have a record player

the band are from Leeds, is that cool?

I can't work out if this is regret

or just the onset of dullness

I think I'll eat breakfast then sleep till noon

eat the remains of last night's moon

'5 AM' by Roxy Dunn. Printed by permission of Roxy Dunn. Taken from 'Clowning' (Eyewear Publishing, 2016)

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