poetry – Page 143 – don't confuse the narrator

a for apple

In the summer, the untended land here is mostly too dry for weeds and no lawn can survive without almost daily watering. The neighbour moves his grand-daughter’s shetland pony around between the various empty gardens and fields, and she may not be in one place for more than a couple of days, depending on the grazing.

We’ve had rain now – torrential thunderstorms and strong winds – but not enough sun to bring the weeds on again, though no doubt they’ll be knee high again in a week or so.
Continue reading “a for apple”

on translating poetry

I’ve been thinking again about translating poetry, partly because it’s a pet subject of mine, and partly because I’m hoping to run a course on the subject next year and have been preparing the course spec.

One of the recurring questions is “when does a translation cease to be a translation and become a derivative work?”.
Continue reading “on translating poetry”

autumn hai’ku

From among the fallen leaves, the wind
lifts a broken butterfly wing
and gives it flight.

autumn creeping from the inside out

autumn evenings

I was a bit ahead of myself when I said it was autumn on the 17th, as in fact the equinox didn’t happen till September 22nd. But there was an autumnal edge to the air last week, although it feels even more ‘edgy’ now the rains have started.

This limits my evenings spent writing under the vine but there will still be plenty of days ahead when it’s warm enough for an hour or two outside once I’ve finished in the studio for the day.

These three short pieces were all written under such circumstances, Continue reading “autumn evenings”

hai’ku

After the rain
the tousled heads of corn;
a scarecrow army.

Castilla y León, 21/09/2008