Poetry is so often related to place. Events and memories fuse together and particular places become locked in our hearts. We all have places that evoke emotional responses. They present as  recurring  thoughts. We find ourselves back in that place and thoughts spill out. The three poems I am sharing (below) are part of a much larger group of poems I wrote during my six years living and working in New York as an education consultant.  Subway Scenes Riding the subway I have a special wish That everybody had more room Then we wouldn’t HAVETOSQUISH Riding on the subway Like sardines in a can I’m pleased the air conditioning works As I didn’t bring a fan Riding on the subway Travellers one and all We ride the darkened underground And heed the station’s call Riding on the subway  We rattle, roll and shake We screech into each station Aboard our mechanical snake   © Alan j Wright Chicken Bones And A Dead Umbrella Walking on Union Street On a wet, wild, windswept day Th...

 Having recently worked on writing a verse novel centred on the life of an orphan boy living in Victorian England, I undertook a project requiring a great deal of reading research regarding life in general during this particular era. Historical accuracy was essential. Apart from supporting my writing efforts, this research extended my knowledge. It chipped away at my ignorance- and that's always welcome. A wealth of  information regarding the prevailing view of the child at that time was revealed. Children were to be seen and not heard. Discipline was often strict in the extreme. The belief being children were wilful and had to be taught to bend to the dictates of adults. In the eyes of many, the children of the poor became expedient factory fodder. They were exposed to exploitation, cruelty and danger.  Schooling for them was frequently over by the age of 11.  The poem I am sharing is based on actual accounts of the working lives of children in the factory system as...

Docupoetry Documentary, or Docupoetry poems combine primary source material with poetry writing. A number of sources may be accessed to inspire documentary poetry. Sources include: news articles  letters  photographs  diaries, journals  court transcripts  medical records  public records  non-fiction texts reports Poets can therefore access a wide range of documents brimming with poetic potential in the pursuit of such writing.  When writing a document poem, the poet may arrange lines or phrases from the source texts to create poems, convey their interpretation of the documents through original poetry, or write poems that fall on somewhere between these various approaches.  The resultant poem is therefore a hybrid creation. I find it instantly appealing.  Although poets choose many different sources and forms in creating documentary poems, many write with a common purpose: seeking social change, breaking silences, or highlighting injustic...

 As an educator and writer I appreciate the importance of sharing my writing with curious young learners. Their questions are essential in dispelling myths and misconceptions  surrounding writing. But equally important is the sharing of one's process. The journey is important, not merely the end product. The poem I am sharing today, was sparked by a photograph I noticed in a magazine supplement, attached to my weekend newspaper. It's summer in Australia, but to be honest it has not exactly dazzled so far. Some pleasant days intermingled with days of above average rain and skies of gloomy, grey clouds. Maybe my poem is inspired by wishful thoughts... The photo I found portrays a family walking along a beach close to sunset. The light is soft around them. They appear to be having family fun.  My gaze fell upon the words 'summer loving' included in a tourism advertisement on the adjoining page. I immediately cut the two items out and pasted them into my writer's notebo...