Alan Shepherd

Biography

I live in St. Ives, Cornwall, where I have been writing and performing poetry since 2008, both as host of the weekly "St. Ives Folk" at the Kettle & Wink and at various festivals and open-mics around Cornwall. Seven of my St. Ives poems are published as 'The Rhythm of St. Ives", available at 'blurb' online and at bookshops in Cornwall and my work is included in my blog at www.myspace.com/alangshepherd where there are also audio performances of eight of my verses. Performing in St. Ives to the wealth of visitors who return on a regular basis is both stimulating and humbling and inspiration - which can lodge with a simple word or two in the mind and gestate at will - is constantly derived from the idiosynchrasies of the people around me, the magic of Cornwall and the challenges and travails of combatting local property leeches and the extremes of this pernicious coalition government.

Samples

Zennor I'd like to live in Zennor, Breathe the air And smell the sea. Enjoy the simple things in life, While simple things Are free. Experience community In a place both wild and raw, And linger in 'The Tinners Arms', As poets have before. A single part Of life's long thread, A passing thought, Soon long since dead. A memory that's fleeting, A second out of time, Just one life-span, A simple man Who loved to read And rhyme. I'd like to die in Zennor, A tree for my headstone. Its leaves will breathe The air I leave, Its roots feed on my bones. And when all trace of me Is dust, And thoughts of me, Long gone, My tree will live in Zennor, And my spirit will Live on.

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.