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- ‘Bewilderment’ by Richard Powers November 22, 2021
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- ‘Light Perpetual’ by Francis Spufford May 15, 2021
- Reading bell hooks. April 5, 2021
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- Seven ways to avoid a Frankenstein education. February 27, 2021
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- ‘Listen to this’. February 13, 2021
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Category Archives: Poetry
The mighty pencil
The mighty pencil It’s just a pencil Making a mark in a specific place On a specific piece of paper On a specific day. It only takes a second or two, No time at all. Such a simple thing. But … Continue reading
Familiale (Jacques Prévert)
The mother is knitting The son is fighting She thinks it quite natural the mother And the father what is he doing the father? He’s doing business His wife is knitting His son is fighting He’s doing business He thinks … Continue reading
The Mathematics of Survival
Poetry gives our language the wings to fly and in difficult times we need strong wings. Starting with just the alphabet, the poetic form allows our ideas to soar. Just like those in our previous anthologies, the student poems in … Continue reading
Posted in NewVIc, Poetry
Tagged English PEN, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Poetry, student voice, The Mathematics of Survival
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Abdellatif Laâbi: attesting against barbarism.
The brilliant Moroccan poet, novelist and playwright Abdellatif Laâbi is the epitome of the engaged writer. Born in Fez in 1942, he studied at the University of Rabat and was one of the founders of the literary magazine Souffles in … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Education, Poetry
Tagged Abdellatif Laâbi, citizenship education, English PEN, France, hope, I attest, Morocco, Poetry, Solidarity, terrorism
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From ‘Recovery’ by Rabindranath Tagore
from Recovery – poem no.10 from arogya by Rabindranath Tagore (1941) Lazily afloat on time’s stream, My mind turns to the sky. As I cross its empty expanses Shadowy pictures form in my eyes Of the many ages of the long past … Continue reading
Seeking refuge in poetry
I am So I have left everything But I am something. I have left everyone But I am someone. I have left there But I am here. Something, someone, here, now. September 2015 Links to poems about the refugee … Continue reading
Let Us Be Midwives! Sadako Kurihara
Let Us Be Midwives! An untold story of the atomic bombing by Sadako Kurihara, translated by Richard Minear Night in the basement of a concrete structure now in ruins. Victims of the atomic bomb jammed the room; It was dark—not … Continue reading
Poem: Corsica
Corsica Corsica Our island Rest and refuge So wild and warm In our hearts and minds Casting shadows on every other place Always there and forever yearning for us Cold spring water to quench our thirst On a sun baked granite … Continue reading
Young poets ‘write the wrong’
Brave new words from young writers at Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) Poetry is not a luxury, something we only turn to when more important things have been seen to. Poetry is essential. We need to listen to it, read … Continue reading
‘Saying thank you’ – a poem for father’s day.
Saying thank you In the beginning very little gratitude Who gets to choose their parents after all? But gradually you realise what you’ve been given And in time you understand the debt you owe So, For bathing me … Continue reading
Nazim Hikmet: Hiroshima and Strontium 90
I Come and Stand at Every Door (Hiroshima) I come and stand at every door But no one hears my silent tread I knock and yet remain unseen For I am dead, for I … Continue reading
‘Lo! A child is born’ – Hugh MacDiarmid
From Lo! A child is born by Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978) I thought of a house where the stones seemed suddenly changed And became instinct with hope, hope as solid as themselves, And the atmosphere warm with that lovely heat, The … Continue reading
Science and Poetry. Science in Society 2
Readings Peter Atkins ‘Although poets may aspire to understanding, their talents are more akin to entertaining self-deception. They may be able to emphasise delights in the world, but they are deluded if they and their admirers believe that their identification … Continue reading
Science in poetry
Sidereus Nuncius* I have seen two-horned Venus Travelling gently in the sky. I have seen valleys and mountains on the Moon, Saturn with its three bodies; I, Galileo, first among humans, Have seen four stars circle around Jupiter, The Milky Way … Continue reading
Eddie Playfair 