Michael Crowley

Biography

Playwright and poet my first collection Close to Home is published by prolebooks. www.prolebooks.co.uk Currently Writer in Residence at a Young Offenders Institution in the North West. Published in Acumen, Envoi and elsewhere. Recently included in the anthology An Elastic Sky pub. Litfest. I am interested in poetry with a strong narrative. You can find out more about my work at my website michaelcrowley.co.uk

Samples

Chances Are It chose me. After two hundred exams psychometric tests interview selection Sand Hurst an Arctic Warfare course failure as a linguist it took me into its breast. Explosive Ordinance Disposal Every One’s Divorced. I’m not rock and roll some crazy arse. Base jumping and motorbikes that’s for foot soldiers. I have blown Chance out like a match put away the playing cards swallowed my indefinite articles all other half measures. My dreams are calculated. A bomb strapped to a man’s chest like going to a newsagents. Chance waits back there at the perimeter with my second Number Two. Ahead only the certain anarchy of a breeze into my visor a mosquito towards my eye or the insurgent’s crossed wires. The enemy holds it breath under the pale earth. Its father is watching and filming this is getting silly. I sweep the sleep away from its eyes bring it into the light put my hand over its mouth until the last sigh. When I come home we will learn to love each other again. Game Over On Saturdays at four o’clock we headed for the shores of that park creeping back across riddled pitches to nylon studs applause on changing room floors where we gave post match interviews to fathers who walked us home like champions to a face flannel over my knees the inspection and re-enactment of bruising the results read out in black and white and tell her how I played. I ran across October afternoons ahead of the sun’s rays along the precipice of a touchline and never looked down. We were stars tomorrow waited like a substitute with something to prove. Michael Crowley

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

Blog entries by Michael Crowley

Close to Home (27/04/2012)

Blog link: https://www.writeoutloud.net/blogs/michaelcrowley