Biography
Member of poetry i-d in Letchworth, Herts Recently published in Poetry News and due for twelve more publications in 2011, for which I'll receive the price of a pie and a pint! After miserably failing English A-level was told by teacher that I had a true poetic response and to use it. Remembering this thirty years later and encouraged by girlfriend Cristina Watkins to start writing, I have settled into what I am told is my own voice having covered a variety of styles from comic to tragic, both of which I revisit in error from time to time..... Now looking to push my poetry further on and have swapped a hobby mentality to semi-pro after a succesful run of mag acceptances etc. I initiated the concept of Poetry in Shops for the Letchworth Festival in 2011 and co-ordinated the poetry in the first George Orwell Festival September 2011. Fan of Selected verse rather than Collected; big fan of Welldon Kees, Don Paterson, Charles Bukowski, Billy Collins. Feedback welcomed should you desire. Blog is at garethwriterdavies.wordpress.com
Samples
MISSING I am seeing you busy with spices and marzipan the 20w whisk stirs the air sticky with the frankincense of christmascake the whistle ready kettle is calling last orders to the coffee cups and six chocolate soldiers are drunk at their posts legless send the children away to search the dust take the blackening flag from the window you see that eastern star? I lie within its dark motive watching you BROKEN EARTH The sense of winter lies beneath broken earth and a dog mist that tracks the sweeping of leaves the chopping of wood the hot mug of acorn tea your hair still blazes with autumn your gaze is gun blue but the heavy iron tread of winter is breaking you do not resist the ice crystals; sleep there will be mountains to build a sea of lakes a harvest to steal you will need your diamonds iron does not rest NO ROSES this is an old cottage with no roses and thick black ice in a spode bowl on the other side of a four plank door dai jones braces by his knees stands smoking what he reckons to be his last cigarette sparks are dust as he bruises the stub he combs his hair straightens his tie breaks the key in the lock returns to bed waits COOKHAM IN WINTER You notice, that The river is wider than the field Where sheep munch turnip tops And the scarecrow Is a superspy, asleep on the job But that is not important Stanley, the painter Paints a summer scene, apples Ripe on the bough, the long grass Shaking with maidens The money is good Winter is his naked season When the dead Float down the high street And river gulls Are the nearest things to angels As he murders his wife Not for the first time Cookham is always upside down And a man with visions Needs careful watching Jesus rented rooms there once He was found up a creek With no paddle Stanley had an alibi The sheep are now Wearing wellingtons The scarecrow is their dinner
All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.
Blog entries by Gareth Writer-Davies
HAPPIEST ON HER BACK (25/09/2012)
TEA DANCE (02/01/2012)
THE UNCERTAIN NARCISSIST (10/03/2011)
Blog link: https://www.writeoutloud.net/blogs/garethwriterdavies
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Comments
I certainly did mean "thong" : )
Reminds me of a preamble by Noel Coward to his song "A Bar on the Piccola Marina" when he refers to "hordes of middle aged women all determined to have a ball".....
Thanks for your comments Cynthia and your continued interest in my stuff.
Gareth, re: Poundshops, was a 'thong of aunts' on purpose; or did you mean a 'throng of aunts'. I thought 'thong' was very funny.
Thanks for commenting on"Platform" Gareth.
I'll settle for being flensed and then having my skull set on the mantlepiece.
Thanks for taking a look at my poetry Gareth. Hope you had a good Christmas and all that.
Isobel x
Ha - my profile picture hasn't changed - it must be your blackberry - maybe it couldn't handle so many pixels... oh dear, time for a diet LOL x
Thanks for that Isobel and also Winston for getting back to me-problem did resolve itself, but now back to old picture-hmmm. Time will tell.
Profile pictures are taking a while longer to load for some reason. I've had the same problem. I've also found that I can't load any pictures that have been cropped or edited after they've been taken. Don't know if that is unique to me. I think it has to be Jpeg format as well.
Sorry - realise that you were addressing your comment to Winston, but I'm a meddler and I've got a better arse than him...
Thanks for your comments on The Clackety-Clack, Gareth. Congratulations again on Weyfarers; I've tried them two or three times without success.
Unveiling of new statue of Sappho this Saturday at noon. Will be reading a poem along with two colleagues inspired by Sappho.
If you are near Letchworth, come along!
Hi Ann!
We nicked the idea from some other town, but now can't remember where?! In another life I was used to running quite complicated projects, so the admin side has been OK. I got the Town Centre Manager involved, made sure we were co-ordinated with the Town Festival and then cold called the shops, emphasising that the cost to them was nothing and that people would be looking in their windows and more likely to buy their goods! Hey presto, 30 shops were easily got....
The poets are members of the North Herts Stnaza of the Poetry Society so I know their standard and one of the shopkeepers came up with his own stuff which was pretty good!
The poems will be up 11/06 to 26/06 in fair Letchworth town : )
Hello - I was interested to read about the project in Letchworth, having poems in shop windows sounds really good! Do let us know how it goes. Was it difficult to co-ordinate? How did you find the poets, choose the poems, get the shop keepers interested? I don't quite feel up to starting a WOL in Cornwall where I live (maybe one day!) but this seems like a good way to maybe start getting some interest going. Oh, and welcome to WOL by the way! :)
Thanks Julian-will do!
Quite so Pete : )
Hi Gareth,
The gig guide is not quite as searchable as we would like - wil be better soon - but I have had a quick look through the towns list. Not sure what counts as North Herts but I am guessing Hitchin, Stevenage area? Cambridge has quite a few events. Anyhow, if you go to the gig guide and type the following into search, you might find what you are looking for, the other thing to bear in mind is that new events are coming in at around five a day, so keep watching. And you might want to set your own up. Give me a shout if you do want to do so, perhaps we can help. we will certainly give you what support we can.
there have been events from time to time in
Hitchin, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, St Albans, Stony Stratford and Ware. so it is worth searching the website from time for these places and Northampton too has a regular event.
Thanks for your comments on Interview
Thanks : )
<Deleted User> (7075)
Tue 22nd Feb 2011 00:00
Hi Gareth, Welcome to Write out Loud. Winston.
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Neil Fawcett
Tue 28th Feb 2012 10:06
Cheers for the comment Gareth;)