Tongues & Grooves - Portsmouth - 25/10/2009

Nine poems of my sequence Senses were presented in a special Tongues & Grooves session hosted by George Marsh and almost totally devoted to the Chinese poetry and culture.

George Marsh had the brilliant idea to dramatise the presentation of the poems by having them read by four different voices:

- I - Sense of Silence - Read by Armando Halpern
- III - Sense of Prophecy - Read by Jan Fowler
- V - Sense of Love - Read by George Marsh
- VI - Sense of Touch - Read by June Merrigan
- VIII - Sense of Peace - Read by George Marsh
- X - Sense of Home - Read by Jan Fowler
- XI - Sense of Sight - read by Armando Halpern
- XII - Sense of Eternity - Read by June Merrigan
- XIII - Grail - Read by George Marsh (lines 1 and 2), Jan Fowler (lines 3 and 4), June Merrigan (lines 5 and 6) and Armando Halpern (remaining lines).

I thank George, Jan and June for their commitment, enthusiasm and the quality of their reading.

To George my special thanks for a remarkable evening of Chinese poetry and insights on cross-cultural influences.

Viva Voce - Southampton - 24/10/2009

At Viva Voce, an event organised by Apples and Snakes, at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton, I read the following poems:

- Summoning the Dead
- Sense of Silence
- Excuses

Write Angle- Petersfield - 20/10/2009

I read the poems:

- From Exile
- When Heroes Return Home

Write Angle - Hosted by Leah Cohen and Jake Claret
Address: Upstairs @ The Square Brewery
7 The Square
Petersfield
Hampshire
GU32 3HJ

No Title

What is kissing but these two souls
reaching for the limits of the skin?
Spirit will be hiding there, in silence.
The time marked by the rhythms of breathing
but spreading far beyond the reach of our lungs
fades, then, into the undivided present,
continuous, moving and still,
still in our eyes when we wake,
when we take and live by the troubling emotions
that angels envy and convey,
drop our fears, surrender and smile
and kiss again.