zerotohero – Peter/A/Writer

Resurrection!

Okay, that heading may be a bit of an overstatement, especially at this moment as I sit before my laptop wearing pyjama bottoms and heavy fake-wool jumper, with runny eyes and nose, a sawdust throat, fits of sneezing regularly punctuating my out-of-season shivers.

The intended purpose of this over-dramatic exultation, however, is twofold: first, to apologise that I haven’t posted a blog for a while and promise that this will be the first of a more regular communication series; and second, to herald with optimism the rather belated start of steps I should have taken sooner to get myself and my work out there (wherever that may be!).

On that second point, I am grinding rather rusty slow wheels which, when properly lubricated and in motion, will make it a bit less easy for me to hide under a rock, a shaded spot which has proved attractive of late.

This will also be a mercifully short blog, mainly because it is virtually impossible to work with ‘Man-flu’, as any well-informed medical practitioner will testify. With each tap of the keyboard I am sweating metaphorical blood (which literalists would disdainfully insist resembles perspiration and snot).

So, initially, just a couple of brief updates.

The first relates to Social Media.

I’m sticking with Facebook and Twitter in the meantime though there may be one addition to that in the next couple of months. However, I have decided to open an additional Facebook Account, dealing just with writing and other creativity.

For many years I have been aware that many creatives have a specific account separate from their private account but had avoided until now the additional administration that would involve.

However, since 2019 there has been a particular personal reason why I decided that I did not want to communicate on my personal Facebook page from a date in February through to mid-April. This has occurred each year and I have finally realised that a creative page separate from my personal page would be a mechanism for continuation of artistic expression, while allowing me to show due respect by taking a break my personal Facebook page.

The framework of the new page has been set up and I’ll post a link to it when I have posted some content.

Well, if that first revelation hasn’t sent you to sleep, here’s the second.

I have now been added to Scottish Book Trust’s Live Literature Register. This does mean that libraries, schools, writing groups and others may chance upon my name on that Register and contact me to do readings, talks, workshops and other events promoting reading, writing and so on.

While there is an element of scariness about that prospect it is also something which (if called upon) I look forward to doing. Truly, quite excited.

If you want to check out my complete listing profile in the Register, here is the link:

https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors/peter-a

‘Speak soon (now… where did I put those tissues, paracetamol …?)

‘Art of Insomnia’ Revised for Reprint (Part 2)

As a follow-on from the Part 1 Blog, Art of Insomnia Revised for Reprint (Part 1) here are the details of the five revisals made in the reprint of Art of Insomnia, each explanation accompanied by a photograph showing the revised version of the poem as it now appears in the chapbook.

Revisal 1: ‘HELENIUM ONE AND ONLY (Helenium sui generis)’ is the third poem in Section 1 (BEAUTIFUL/TERRIBLE) of the chapbook. It is a tiny poem, written in response to a prompt to compose a poem of no more than 10 lines, describing a person/event as if describing a flower/plant in a seed catalogue. As you’ll observe from the photograph just one word was changed, replacing the word ‘warned’ with the word ‘aware’. The sole reason for this was to avoid unnecessary and pointless repetition, the word ‘warning’ having appeared in the immediately preceding line. Had I not had a much better reason for revisal [Revisal 5], I’d probably have left the poem as it was. This is the poem.

Like Revisal 1, the reason for the minor amendment in Revisal 2, to ‘NEARLY NOT GOING OUT SYNDROME’ is partly to correct unnecessary word repetition in successive lines. In the original version the word ‘effort’ appeared in lines 11 and 12 and worked fine but, as there was going to be a necessary revisal elsewhere [Revisal 5], I took the chance to replace ‘effort’ with ‘battle’ in line 12 because I think ‘battle’ better expresses what is going on in the mind, as well as avoiding repetition. This is the new version of the poem from Section 2 (FRENCH RETREAT) of the chapbook ‘Art of Insomnia’.

As with the previous poem in Revisal 2, Revisal 3, of poem PILGRIMAGE, is from Section 2 of the book (FRENCH RETREAT) and relates ultimately to a promise I made to myself. Unlike the two previous revisals, this one is not about removing an unnecessary repetition; it is about a decision to remove a phrase and, in replacing it, name the destructive demon ‘overthinking’.

Like Revisals 2 and 3, REVISAL 4 also relates to Section 2 of the chapbook (FRENCH RETREAT). Once again the original reason for the revision was the wish to avoid inappropriate repetition. I do very much approve of good repetition. However in this poem, ‘FOUND IN FRANCE’, I noticed that in the list of things my late wife would have found off-putting about the French place to which I had retreated I had unwittingly mentioned bees twice. I decided that I’d remove the first mention of them and emphasise the inescapability of the dogs by inserting the word ‘doorway’. Helen liked, but was afraid of, dogs and in the French getaway there were three dogs, usually present at one doorway or another! Just one revisal to go now. In the meantime here’s the revised version of ‘FOUND IN FRANCE’ as it appears in the reprint (over two pages).

Finally, there’s REVISAL 5, the one absolutely necessary revisal that led to the opportunity to make the other four less necessary ones which, though less necessary, do – I hope – clarify and improve what they replace. Anyway, Revisal 5 is the really embarrassing one. Originally, I loved the sound of the word ‘enervate’ as it originally appeared in line 25. I loved reading ‘energy to enervate’ and I thought I knew the meaning. However, some time after publication of the chapbook I saw a tweet in which someone referred to former Makar Jackie Kay describing in another poem a mistaken use of the word ‘enervate’. I checked and was distressed to find that the word meant pretty much the opposite of what I thought! Using ‘energise’ would not have worked with energy in the same line, and I did not like any of the synonyms I could find. So, I thought about a word that meant the opposite of being brought down and ‘elevate’ was ideal to convey that meaning. It also sounded similar to the word it was replacing, and that pleased me because I felt I was retaining as much of the sound of the original as possible while correcting the meaning and purpose of the line. This final revisal is of the poem ‘AFTER THE ENDING’ which appears over two pages in the chapbook’s Section 3 (RETURN TO WHAT REMAINS).

To purchase ‘Art of Insomnia’, this is the page with all the details Art of Insomnia

Art of Insomnia Revised for Reprint (Part 1)

As some of you know, at the end of May 2021 my debut poetry chapbook Art of Insomnia was published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press, a matter of great importance to me, especially as it was dedicated to and largely inspired by my beloved wife Helen, whose unexpected death broke my heart exactly one week before Easter 2019.

I was grateful that the book resonated with so many readers and, as it proved more popular than I had expected, the matter of printing additional copies had to be considered.

Inside Front and Back Covers of ‘Art of Insomnia’

By this time I was working on further chapbook ideas and preparing for a larger collection but decided, before going ahead with a further print run, to look at the poems afresh to ensure I was entirely happy with them.

Thankfully, I found that most of them conveyed their messages exactly as I wanted those messages to go out and I was content to leave those. However, I was disappointed to discover from a tweet I saw by chance on Twitter that one of the twenty two poems contained a word often used to mean the opposite of its actual meaning, and that’s an error I had made.

No one had brought this error to my attention, and I may have got away with it, but knowing that a reprint was in the offing made me look critically at the whole manuscript. As a result, I found four other minor matters which, if changed, might improve the work. Thankfully, my publisher agreed to all five changes which have been incorporated in the reprint currently available for purchase. This is the link for purchase – Art of Insomnia

I do have mixed feelings about all this.

On the one hand I am delighted that the copies now available at Scottish Poetry Library, and at a number of libraries local to me, contain these revisals. Similarly, this will be true for copies now being placed with independent book shops and those I take with me to poetry gigs in 2022 and beyond.

However, there’s a fair number of folk who have the original version, without the small changes to five poems, so I do feel it necessary to publicise the changes as widely as I can.

Coming up in Part 2 of this blog – ‘Art of Insomnia’ Revised for Reprint (Part 2) – you’ll find details of the five changes and the reasons for them, so I hope that lots of those who have purchased the original chapbook will find this helpful.

Further, all members of The Hedgehog Poetry Press’s ‘Cult of the Spiny Hog’ will be able to download an updated digital copy of the book free of charge.

I have also alerted followers on Facebook and Twitter to the changes, and will now link them to this blog (parts 1 and 2)

Finally, I am about to send out to those purchasers for whom I hold addresses a bookmark which contains details of the changes on its reverse.

By this means I hope to get the information out to anyone who may be interested.

If you already have a revised reprint, this blog and -link- will probably be of less significance, unless you have an academic interest in the rarity of a post-publication editing process.

To find out details of the changes, and view the five poems in their changed form, go to – ‘Art of Insomnia’ Revised for Reprint (Part 2)

If you haven’t purchased Art of Insomnia but this blog or its Part 2 –‘Art of Insomnia’ Revised for Reprint (Part 2) – has sparked your interest, this is the purchase link you require – Art of Insomnia

Donald J Trump: My Part in his Downfall

Now that the Vice-President has been declared President Elect and the Fake-Tan President of Vice has been found wanting and given his marching orders, thereby becoming President Evicted, I think the time is right.

Modesty forbids… well it almost forbids, but not quite.

I am going to go ahead and own up to the significant contribution this little-known poet from a small country made in bringing down the most powerful man in the world. Personally, I’m not the sort to boast but I’m just telling you that’s what ‘some people’ are saying. And they are ‘very good people, the best, very bright people I’m told’.

You probably heard P45 (just before he got his P45) declaring his puzzlement that at one stage he was in the lead, then later ‘magically’ there appeared all these votes for his opponent.

I can now reveal the inspiration for those additional votes. It was to be found in a poetry ebook , readily available free of charge online, to anyone who wished to flick through its virtual pages. Two of my little poems lurk within its digital covers.

The ebook was put together by Stephanie Lunn, a wine writer who, with Billy Nomad as illustrator, launched Poems Against Trump before the 2020 election in a bid to defeat potential fascism in the US of A.

In the Year of Plague it would appear her efforts have contributed towards removing the Orange Plague and hopefully, in 2021 and beyond, this will also lead more quickly towards the prioritisation of Coronavirus control, Healthcare in the United States and that other plague upon the earth, Climate Change. With a little bit of Irish luck it might also have a positive impact on Brexit, particularly in relation to the GFA, Internal Market Bill etc.

It truly is amazing what a little free ebook can do. Indeed Democrats could have saved so much campaign money by just promoting this book!

If you currently have an image of me with tongue in cheek boosting my part in all this, that would not be far from true. Indeed, if you go to this link, https://sendwinenow.co.uk/poetsagainsttrump where you can peruse or download the whole volume, you will notice that the other contributions are much more hard-hitting than mine. I guess it’s not my style to use such direct language. In fact I was so cowardly that I withdrew permission to print a poem I originally submitted titled Vladimir’s Latest Purchase (Allegedly). I quickly wrote and sent Trompe-l’oeil as a replacement.

For ease of reference I’ll finish this blog post with my two poems from the ebook. The first was written prior to Trump’s first visit to the UK as POTUS. At the time there were demonstrations against the visit taking place but I thought it was best to allow him to be seen for what he is. Swallow was first published in online zine I am not a silent poet.

Swallow
 
 Allow this man 
 and others of his kind
 to visit this land of yours and mine
 if that’s what they really want
 
 When they arrive
 we shall carry our children and grandchildren
 aloft upon our shoulders so they can see for themselves
 that these people look deceptively like us 
 generally human in appearance 
 
 And when they speak
 our offspring will hear the sound snakes make 
 to sanitise their decisions and the steps they take  
 in the name of narcissistic whim or profit
 regardless of impact on people or planet
 
 Our precious ones
 will this way learn
 whom to avoid 
 whom to distrust
 whom they must 
 not allow themselves to become
 
 Allowing 
 the vile to be here for a while
 putting their poisonous ideas on trial 
 should not increase their following
 but will teach us that 
 when the venom is spat
 the secret is not swallowing

Trompe-l’oeil

Trompe-l’oeil

Sounds a little like

Trump lies

Trompe-l’oeil

Means a trick upon

Your eyes

Note what the

French coincidence

Implies

Donald J.

Monsieur Trompe-l’oeil

Arise!