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The Hall Writers’ Forum The Hall Writers’ Forum was launched online in 2013 with a view to fostering dialogue, collaboration, and creative writing. Its members include current and former students of St Edmund Hall, members of the Hall’s academic and non-academic staff, and associates from outside the college who have been nominated by Forum members.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2015 by Chough Publications St Edmund Hall Oxford OX1 4AR This collection © 2015 Chough Publications Copyright for the individual contributions remains with the authors except where otherwise indicated Drawings © 2015 Jude Montague 1
Table of Contents Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 3 Peter King ................................................................................................................................................. 5 Darrell Barnes ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Jude Montague ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Natasha Walker ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Lucy Newlyn ......................................................................................................................................... 10 The Weed Patch .................................................................................................................................. 11 The Riddle.............................................................................................................................................. 15 Notes on Contributors ...................................................................................................................... 17
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Introduction
Introduction Peter King started this than-bauk thread which burst upon an unsuspecting Hall Writers’ Forum - with surprising results/ The than-bauk is a Burmese form - a three-line poem, each line with four syllables, rhymed regularly: ---a --a-a-The fourth, third and second syllables respectively all rhyme (half and sight rhymes are allowed); for example, Darrell Barnes composed: Flexible form where words worm a new norm for us. The reader who is not familiar with the word may believe that Than-bauk is a holiday destination only recently discovered by adventurous poets, a delightful place in which to develop intricate rhyme schemes. The language is easy to master (words longer than two syllables are rare) but failure to observe correct syntax risks making one’s conversation unintelligible. Many of the contributions which follow are listed under the name of each author, each having a section of his or her own, but not necessarily in the order in which they were first posted. One of the delights of the Hall Writers’ Forum is how a post may spark all manner of contributions and responses: many of these were prompted by Tony Brignull’s Riddle and Lucy Newlyn’s Weed Patch. Indeed, the latter took on a life of its own (and has a garden in this booklet all to itself), populating barren ground with all kinds of plants donated by other writers - a sort of poetic guerilla gardening.
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Peter King
Peter King Pearl Ribbons Toads in the pool churn the cool depths and spool their spawn. Park in Winter Below the arc of night mark how the bark peels down. Bare trees are stark against dark skies; stars spark like leaves. Found in London Caught in a shower, on a sour day in Tower Hamlets
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Darrell Barnes
Darrell Barnes Google was in the news in 2014 because of a ruling by the European Union that users should have the right to remove themselves from Google’s faultless memory: An Appeal to Google The internet is not yet safe; forget me, please. Darrell received a slim volume of poems from Freedom from Torture written by survivors of torture under the title of Write to Life which prompted: Write to Life A load of stones crush my bones and my groans endure. Tony Benn died on 14th March 2014. Tony Benn Peace, Tony Benn of all men, here and then you've gone. A Tourist Guide to Slough Do you know Slough? Passing through? That’s Enough for now.
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Darrell Barnes
2014 Elections Nigel Farage, though no sage, wrote a page that's new. Dave Cameron wished he'd gone to march on Brussels. Ed Miliband, hopeless, bland, has not fanned support. Lib Dem Nick Clegg now must beg to wipe egg from face. This offering works the than-bauk structure in a double form: Whatever next? You got text? Made you vexed? Not me!
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Jude Montague
Jude Montague The Poet’s Struggle Cold on my flesh, I fear death comes; success will not.
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Natasha Walker
Natasha Walker The telephone conference Conference call: mindless small talk will maul your brain.
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Lucy Newlyn
Lucy Newlyn The Graveyard Grey lichened stones no one owns, where old bones moulder.
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The Weed Patch
The Weed Patch Lucy Newlyn: Ground Elder Unchecked, this weed takes the lead, so pay heed, and hoe. Green How few its needs as it feeds and self-seeds, greenly. Bindweed
A case of mistaken identity
Its tendrils twine through my lines, their thin vines spreading. Half-hidden (posted in a secluded spot in the reserved forum) Oh modest weed! This safe thread, so un-read, hides you. Peter King: Hidden treasure By mossy stones a wind-blown seedling lonely sprouts.
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The Weed Patch
Jude Montague: All May's days I see days' eyes; pink tipped eyelashes. Lucy Newlyn: Neglected (again, posted in the reserved section) Here in the shade my charms fade. I'm not made for this. Peter King: Wild Strawberry I need full sun for my runners, or none will grow. Lucy Newlyn: Herbaceous Border (posted in the Translation section) Here is safe ground. Weeds surround me. I’ve found my place.
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The Weed Patch
Exposed (posted in the news and Announcements section, right at the top of the Public Forum) This Alpine spot has a lot of nice hot stones, where Sun-loving plants, lizards, ants, thrive. I can’t survive. ‘But wait!’
An afterthought, prompted by a wild strawberry plant
There is scope here: what’s to fear from the sere sun’s ray? The embrace (posted in the Nature section) In praise of buddleias and butterflies
Catching the light: a Black Knight and small white, kissing. Jude Montague: Buddleias grow quickly so I had to cut one. I have one left it leans west. It once sheltered ducks. 13
The Weed Patch
They have now gone to live on the Tarn. One remains.
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The Riddle
The Riddle Tony Brignull posted this riddle, which prompted a number of than-bauk responses. White as a redhead on a strand, peg-leg decimator of forest and woodland, workplace layabout, national strike fulminator mostly under cover, always scratchy, always about to explode, fag lover, pal in the trenches, your end, my bookish fair-weather friend, is luciferian and dire, you'll die in a burst of fire. Darrell Barnes: You’re far too bright for me; might you shed light for us? Sorry to pester: I think Vesta is the besta can do. Jude Montague: The vestal rite. A snow white swan swims right over. 15
The Riddle
Lucy Newlyn: Don’t Ignite my flame! When my name's out the game’s over. On suddenly seeing the answer Wrong paths taken, truth forsaken. Oh, wakening light, strike my fond heart with your art! Play your part this night. Darrell Barnes: A pretty rhyme! Quite sublime! Want a dime for it? Fiona Larkin: Solved by song - God knows it’s odd - by The Prodigy
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Notes on Contributors
Notes on Contributors Darrell Barnes (1963) read Modern Languages and joined Barclays Bank DCO after leaving university. He worked in East Africa, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland and other places beyond Ultima Thule before concluding that the rewards of work were vastly inferior to the those of working in the voluntary sector in various capacities. He lives in Putney where he once rowed - alas, no longer. Tony Brignull joined an insurance company at the age of seventeen, then did National Service with the RAF in Germany 1956 - 58. After a spell as a trainee teacher in Dalston, he worked in the advertising industry, responsible for successful campaigns such as Parker, Birds Eye and Cinzano. After retirement in 1996 he wrote poetry and stories, winning a couple of national contests and one international competition; and in 2002 he went to St Edmund Hall to read English, followed by an MA at King's College London, specialising in Life Writing. Peter J King was active on the London poetry scene in the mid-1970s, running Tapocketa Press, and co-editing words worth magazine with Alaric Sumner. He started studying philosophy in 1980, going on to read for the B.Phil. at Brasenose in 1983, then a D.Phil., and is now lecturer in philosophy at Pembroke College and at St Edmund Hall. He wrote and published poetry for a while in the mid1980s, and started again in 2012. He translates poetry from modern Greek (with Andrea Christofidou), and has recently started translating German poetry. Jude Cowan Montague is a writer and artist from London. She has worked as an archivist on the Reuters and ITN video collections and has published poetry relating to news agency video. She is working on her third collection The Wires, 2012 about international news stories to be published by Dark Windows Press. She is also a musician and composer. Lucy Newlyn has taught English at St Edmund Hall for the last thirty years. She has published widely on English Romanticism, and edited a number of poetry anthologies. Her first collection of poems, Ginnel, was published with Carcanet in 2005; and her second, Earth's Almanac, will be published by Enitharmon in 2015. She is Literary Editor of The Oxford Magazine. 17
Notes on Contributors
Natasha Walker lives in Germany and works for companies, governments, foundations and change-makers shaping strategy on climate change adaptation, biodiversity, poverty and other global issues. She studied English Literature and Modern Languages (German) at SEH and GÜttingen University. She has a grown-up son at Manchester University and a seven year old daughter, loves Mozart and Bartok, Bach and Shostakovich, hiking, Cornwall and her enormous family. She’s constantly writing a novel, but actually manages to finish poems and proverbs.
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