Pond warriors & morning stars: four recent poems

Heron as Anglo-Saxon style warrior, a paean to a vintage alarm clock, a march, a terrible pun on an old car.

All four first appeared on Black Bough Poetry’s TopTweetTuesday.

Four short poems: The passing comfort of rain, Declaration of a thrush, Belfort and Oaks Avenue.

The poems below were shared on Twitter for Black Bough Poetry’s Top Tweet Tuesday.Recent challenges have been to write very short, imagist poems on a variety of themes – including weather and wonder and birds. All but one were written specially for this – often the night before. Sometimes they work out quite well –…

Three new poems: Brussels to Bruges, Political Donations, No Smoke

Three new poems, recently shared on Twitter as part of Black Bough Poetry’s #toptweettuesday Brussels to Bruges Considered through train carriage windows, agitated rooks and solitary horses twist necks to eye them. They’re everywhere. Squattingby ditch and stream, in tight organic knots – coppiced willows. Stools tracing lines across flat lands. Borders, vertical as much as horizontal. A coiled army…

Previously, on the me show

I have three new poems up on Northern Gravy, in their 12th edition. I have an unfortunate tendency to dwell for longer on rejections than acceptances when it comes to poetry. I’m trying to change that way of thinking and to celebrate the successes. I’ve tried several times in the past two or three years…

Calling Home etc: four recent poems

Three of these poems, are short, poem-sketches of moments in time. Brief, lyrical, imagist observations about people and places. The fourth, is an attempt to address wider world events, the drum of bad news, war and death, which, much as I wish I could blithely ignore, I find I cannot. It isn’t pretty in the…

‘Mob rule’ on London’s Southbank, Feb 29 2024.

Skimmed past the latest bleatings from unfeasible PM Rishi Sunak this morning on a newsfeed. Apparently the UK is now subject to mob rule. Bit of a disaster if true – especially if you represent the government who’ve been in power the last 14 years and really ought not to have let this happen. What…

The honest A-Z etc: Four new poems

Four more poems, first shared via Blackbough Poetry’s Top Tweet Tuesday. The honest A-Z The honest A-Z is filled with empty pages, roads unwalked, unprinted. Areas ignored and little-known shrink, or vanish altogether. Whole postcodes are erased through lack of interest. While places you have loved, expand. Side-streets stretched into tree-lined boulevards. Market stalls, grimy corner pubs, exes’ flats, old…

Indifference

Indifference There is a global oceanic current systemknown as Amoc. An acronym that stands for– Atlantic Meriodonal Overturning Circulation.Amoc has no view on meeting spending limits.It makes no jibes about what percentage constitutes a woman. Amoc is unconcerned with fickle memories of old men, which redrawn ancient borders are the right ones, or whose children have been left…

Can you ever know if a poem’s finished?

Writing poetry can be a strange and frustrating exercise. Sometimes lines, or even entire poems arrive like a kind of gift from the subconscious and you must record them on whatever comes to hand. Occasionally you might get one that feels complete from the off. Though in my experience this is rare. Even dreamlike poems,…

Three Poems: M4 at night, The next train and Moonset

Three new poems: M4 at night, The next train, Moonset.

Will You Look At That, In the Museum of Vojvodina, A hollow in the hills and Off season: Four new poems

Four recently written poems, first shared via Blackbough Poetry’s Top Tweet Tuesday. A stunning fungi covered stump, golden Roman helmets, an attack on an iconic tree and a small French town in autumn.

The poem’s the puzzle, or ‘I couldn’t not keep looking’

A very thoughtful, considered review of my poetry collection ‘Street Sailing’ in Briefly Write. Click the link to read it on their site. ‘In ‘Street Sailing’, Matt Gilbert looks anew upon familiar streetscapes. His reader can’t not keep looking’ ‘Street Sailing’ is a puzzle with many readings and many answers. Matt Gilbert is a skilful setter,…

The empathy budget

A poem about emotional austerity.

Review of ‘Street Sailing’ – Nigel Kent – Poet and Reviewer

“a remarkable work for a first collection: thoughtful, profound, engaging, beautifully crafted, fresh”

Drop-in feature talking about ‘Seven Sisters’ from ‘Street Sailing’ on poet Nigel Kent’s blog.

Looking for the edge of Zurich.

Where were the bored teenagers, the drunks, shouting kids, people laughing, shouting into mobile phones? Stray cats. Lost dogs. Lost souls. In this city of banks, presumably there must be squads of stressy men and women in tight blue suits pushing through the crowds, busy busy busy? Where was the noise, the random, the edge?

‘Street Sailing’ – Live Launch June 29 Bookseller Crow, Crystal Palace

After a brilliant online launch in May, I’m having a live launch on 29th June at The Bookseller Crow, Crystal Palace.

Guests – Joe Duggan & Matthew M C Smith will both be reading, along with me.
I’ll also be interviewed about the book by Karen McCleod.

Tickets £5 – including a drink.

Street Sailing out in the wild

‘Street Sailing’ voyaging around the world. A selection of readers’ photos.

‘Early Walkers’ A highly commended poem…

Delighted to have a poem ‘Highly Commended’ in the I Am Writing Poetry Competition. Extra special for me because it came off the back of this year’s I Am In Print Festival in Bristol. Here’s the poem… Early Walkers Two figures shimmer on the path ahead, struggling with a skittish charge, a team of walking echoes. Perhaps…