The Art of Painting
A poem to celebrate the humanity and creativity of the Palestinian people that survives, and may yet transcend, the destructive brutality inflicted on them by Israel.
Democracy or Mob Rule?
It is almost 50 years to the day since I voted in the general election called by Edward Heath. He thought democracy was under threat from trade union power and…
Winter Solstice
A poem for the longest night of the year, a year in which darkness seems to have fallen on so many, in the forgotten war Sudan and the oh so…
The fox, the hare and the polar bear
Polaris by Simon Armitage Police are hunting high and low for the thief who nicked the winter snow. Who got their mitts on those glittery days? The Arctic fox, the…
Stanton Family Christmas Newsletter 2023
Well, it is that time of year again. So welcome to the Stanton Family Christmas Newsletter. Matthew continues to work as a skipper on the Coniston steam gondola for the…
A Sonnet for Gaza
Image by Maitane Azurmendi: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International Hibu Abu Nada (1991-2023) was killed along with her son in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike on 20th October 2023.…
HERB AND JUDY AND I
Many years ago I met two heroes of the American Civil rights Movement, Herb Shapiro and Judy Shapiro. only they never told me! Herb is dead now but I would…
A Year of Trees
A journey through the native trees of Britain, the facts, the fiction and the dreams.
TWELFTH NIGHT ON ORMSGILL REZZA.
A poem for Twelfth Night inspired by The Twelve Days of Christmas and the bird life on Ormsgill Reservoir - or the Rezza as we know it in Barrow-in-Furness.