ZOOMING IN SEPTEMBER 2024

A delayed report on September's 1000 Monkeys get-together on Zoom, because we've been away on our annual holiday, this year to Lisbon. The photo is of Dónall stepping back in time, courtesy of a display in a lovely church in the Alfarma district. But now we're back home, with another evening of friends listening and reading our poetry to each other coming up on Tuesday next, 1st October.

Dónall started us off on 2nd September, with  'Barefoot', a poem for the 8th anniversary of his father's death. Jenna Plewes followed with 'I'm in Love with a Nectarine' and her poems about killing a blood-bloated tick and on a lighter note, 'The world is full of a number of things'... Jenna's books raise money that she donates to Médècins sans Frontières and they are for sale from her at [email protected].

Peter Wilkinson's poems compared writing poetry to throwing pottery, promised 'Postcards of memories through travel, and meditated upon Psalm 121: 'I lift my eyes to the hills'.

Gill Learner also had a journey in mind with 'Great Grandad's Journey', a pilgrimage to Santiago. Remembering that today 3rd September was the 39th anniversary of the declaration of World War II, she also read her poem in memory of Ralph Beyer (1921 - 2008), carvings of whose lettering formed part of the restoration of Coventry Cathedral.

Ray Pool had a moving poem in which he regretted having no biological children, while still loving his stepsons. Two lighter poems followed: Sherlock Holmes' Facebook profile in which Moriary becomes the great detective's 'friend' and 'Guttersnipes' — the trials of a man forced to clear blocked drains up on his roof.

Christine Vial had a September themed poems: 'Sewing on Name Tapes' and a protest poem about Clarke's big marketing mistake — children's shoes decorated with blatantly gender-stereotypical imagery and slogans.

Greg Smith recalled 'Laughing Buddha', a shop where 'everybody thinks in whispers', clouds, and 'Washday' — the boiler and mangle where mothers toiled and sang 'Three Coins in a Fountain' in the days before washing machines and laundrettes. 

Phil Lawder's 'Sparkle and Shine' was a sad tale of a child star whose talent and luck fades. Two wryly humorous poems followed — 'She looks at him' and 'Painting the Shed.'

Dennis Tomlinson's 'Power Station' was from his collection Over the Road and 'Summer Wedding' was autobiographical.

Timothy Adès read two poems that were recently published in Acumen: 'The Keyhole', his translation from a poem by Josef Ringelnatz, and 'Call to Sport', a playful memory of his student days.

Anthony Watts read a selection of his poems about birds — 'A 14th Way of Looking at a Blackbird' ('Blot re-entering a pen'); Greenfinch'; a Pigeon who wants to be a Cuckoo! And an electric Kingfisher. 'Challenges' had the memorable line: 'Follow that said the night.'

Cherrie Taylor's speculative poem finished a very enjoyable hour or so of rich, diverse poetry.

Thank you to everyone who read, and all the people who joined in as listeners. As I write, there are just 5 days left before we meet again, and welcome some regular readers and new voices. Email us before Monday's newsletter where we'll list the readers for 1st October. We send out the link for Tuesday's meeting at the weekend, to everyone on our free subscription list.