Roy Stannard's Blog

When you think you know it all, ask the next question

Creative writing

  • Eden Again

    I caught a single piece of history A man assembling his thoughts like a Summer picnic You ran through the landscape like a chalkland stream Swimming bareclad through the jibs and jibes and jabbering You took photographs through the lens of your compassion And used words like needlepoint, stitching people into history Read more

  • Is this the bravest book ever written?

    This may be the bravest book ever written. Why? Firstly, because in physical terms it took Patrick the best part of two years laboriously typing 700 words a day with his left index finger. Secondly, the subject matter is raw, honest and occasionally self-deprecating. His account of a visit to an unfeeling, heartless prostitute, his… Read more

  • Joyeaux Anniversaire, comme ils disent

    ‘Comme ils disent’ ‘As they say’, and they did about us But we stepped to one side and let the dissenters pass We let the March become April and the thunder become light. Read more

  • Somewhere, Nowhere, Everywhere

    Somewhere, nowhere, everywhere Before the rise and fall of everything When the tilting storm clouds creased their foreheads And the world felt numb I searched for meaning in words and phrases like a dictionary compiler struck blind I couldn’t see for the eyes in front of me I couldn’t hear because there were too many Read more

  • The Poppies

    We were at peace with the poppies, whispering like moths wings on a perfect Sussex hillside Feeling the fairy stems caress our legs like a repeated yes, yes. Read more

  • It Was Darker Then

    A poem about revolution inside and outside the heart. Read more

  • Moment

    Moment   There was a New York moment An ice-splinter in a sheet of sunlight When without the aid of smart devices Using dumb mind trails and heartstrings We managed to connect Like two sparrowhawks circling the Downs Two wayfaring strangers caught in eye contact A brother and a sister separated at the orphanage The Read more

  • Scarecrows

    No longer see straw men But the beauty of lovers Making hay while the sun shines. Read more

  • Winter

    https://soundcloud.com/roystannard/roy-stannard-winter Recorded live on Roy Stannard’s ‘The Whole Nine Yards’ – my weekly radio show on Seahaven FM 96.3 and online at www.seahavenfm.com on Thursday 6th December 2013 this is a poem about Winter inspired by the South Downs just north of Newhaven at Rodmell and Piddinghoe close to where I work. The music bed… Read more

  • The End of Failing

    The End of Failing   The Winter tide nibbles at a toe-dipped shoreline, Above, the lowering sky grumbles at the lack of light smudging a moleskin horizon. A couple embroider loose stitches along the waveline emerging like creation from the waters half-way between the depths and the heights, not quite fact or fiction holding hands, Read more