Deconstructing Undoing

The purpose of this small ramble is me trying to work out what to say about my new poetry pamphlet, The Undoing. The poems within have been selected from over a decade’s work, presented alongside new ones. The idea of ‘undoing’ as the basis for a little collection has been on a slow simmer for years. ‘Undoing’ can be interpreted in many ways – disassembling, unwinding, deconstruction, unravelling etc… Every disassembly reveals components of something – elements of a story – and are themselves stories. They can make new stories together. Choosing what to put in a collection of work requires some curatorial attention to hold it together – the opposite of undoing. Each little piece of work is in some way ‘of itself’ and part of everything. Or, indeed, ‘of myself’ and my experience of living. Over six decades out from my launch into the world, I have a vague, but not firm, idea about my small place in the universe. My poems perhaps show some of this in the way that they echo habits of speech, literary tics and mannerisms, amongst the mechanics of writing that I present to the world as poetry. (I dislike classifications and qualifications for what makes a poem or a piece of prose, or any other kind of writing.) I see them all as stories, using different narrative voices and forms to tell them.

Below is the cover poem, In the Shape of Men, which appeared in Porridge Magazine in 2019.

On the subject of the cover – I am honoured to have an image of a painting by the artist Alison Critchlow – Spooky Action at a Distance. When I encountered Alison’s work I was strongly drawn to it. I love her dynamic approach to creating art, which is both abstract and representational. You can find out more on her website: www.alisoncritchlow.co.uk

The Undoing is now available from Maytree Press

In the Shape of Men

We made the heads of Styrofoam
so not to be too heavy on their frail necks.
Hearts? Simply-fashioned, from lumps of stone.

Arms, legs – bent sticks.
Torsos were fabricated from chicken wire and some kind
of pliable fabric. Enough to hold

it all together. Give them a plausible
sense of form. We didn’t make them too clever,
after what happened last time.

I have recorded this poem on Soundcloud. You can find it in the sidebar, with others. Just click to listen.

.