Our meeting on the second Tuesday in May 2020 was our first by Zoom, and the topical theme was Lockdown or Breakout – so we were looking for poems that either reflected the situation or enabled us to escape the confines of lockdown for a while. It would have been good to have seen more members, and if there were any technical hitches let’s hope that they can be overcome next time. Meanwhile three of us, complete with our glasses of wine or beer, enjoyed an hour of poetry.
First up was Dawn’s concrete poem ‘Lockdown Key‘, which you had to see to appreciate fully, but of course Zoom allowed for that. Follow the link to find it on this site. DH Lawrence’s ‘People’ advises them to keep their distance.
Kit Wright’s ‘Everyone hates the English’ provides plenty of food for thought and ‘heated debate’. Coincidentally, Carol Ann Duffy had chosen the same poet’s elegiac ‘The roller in the woods’ for The Guardian’s ‘Poems to get us through’ feature on 7 May.
George the Poet’s ‘The Power of Collaboration’ we applauded for its sentiments and clever wordplay. We imagined him declaiming it… but you can indeed watch him recite it and other topical poems on YouTube.
Late Fragment by Raymond Carver is a litte gem of consolation.
Bertolt Brecht’s ‘The Difficulty of Governing’ tells us how helpless we’d be without our leaders.
Sweet Stay-at-home by WH Davies (the self-styled ‘Supertramp’) describes many experiences of travel that the eponymous friend has never enjoyed, but the poet finds that more homely stuff has nurtured her gentle self enough.
David Aldred’s untitled work in progress was a change of style from what we’ve heard from him before; less of the enigmatic and spiritual imagery, more straightforward and dealing with heartfelt concerns. We looked forward to seeing it completed…. and now, here it is… – ‘Songs of hope and despair III’.
One further poem which I had intended to read but somehow overlooked, was ‘On first looking into Chapman’s Homer’, by Keats, as it describes so vividly how you can sit at home, open a book, and be transported to other worlds.