The new Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is  'Skiffle' by Leon Stolgard. Skiffle orginated as a term in the US in the first half of the 20th century, and became popular in the UK in the 1950s, where it was asociated with artists such as Lonnie Donegan. He spurred a skiffle craze, a grassroots movment in which youngsters bought, improvised, or built their own instruments, such as the tea-chest bass, creating, as the poem says, "early sounds of hepcat music ... long ago crazy beats ...mad beboppings". In his replies to Write Out Loud's regular list of questons, Leon reveals himself to be a fan of Dylan Thomas, Philip Larkin, and John Betjeman.   

 

 

How long has poetry been an important part of your life and can you remember why it became so?

I have loved poetry from as far back as I can remember. My beloved grandmother used to read it to me as a child, and I remember being very much comforted by the depth of the prose and the structure of the verses.

 

What kind of poetry do you write?  What motivates you?

I would call myself an “abstract” poetry writer. I find it to be more of an unfolding and organic process, whereby the words begin to crystallise into an imaginative gemstone.

 

If you could only have one poet’s work to read, which one would you choose?

I am drawn to the works of Dylan Thomas, Philip Larkin and John Betjeman. I find their realism is simply too much to resist intellectually, and their poems very much relatable, earthy and almost timeless.

 

Do you perform your work and if so, where are your favourite places to perform?

I am somewhat reclusive but have “dabbled” in performance art in my distant past. Nowadays I prefer to keep the performance of my work very much low-key (hence the reclusion). That said, I have heard great reviews about the Tudor, and the Boar’s Head in Middleton? Perhaps in the not too distant future I might get to visit them both and familiarise myself with some of the Write Out Loud folk. [NB Write Out Loud Wigan has moved from the Tudor to the Old Courts, still in Wigan, while Write Out Loud Middleton is no longer running at the moment – Ed]

 

If you found yourself cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you pick?

As a castaway I have to insist (if my allowances could be extended a little) on having a portable record player, along with a Cole Porter LP or two (pretty please!) and a caddy of Lapsang Souchong tea. I would use a basic method of filtration to cleanse the salt from the seawater so I could sit on the beach at sunset listening to Cole while sipping my Mount Wuyi brew.

 

 

SKIFFLE

by Leon Stolgard

 

through young ears

into young souls

in equal parts of wonder and wanting

early sounds of hepcat music

beng thrashed out

on a basic combination

of catgut, brush poles

and old tea chests

filling the coffee aromatically aired

fifties cafes 

changing the folds of brows

and hairstyles

in the following of it

with rebellious teenaged attention. 

Long ago crazy beats 

which makes the youth of then

cry today 

wishing they could

as those mad beboppings will 

go on forever.