Almost Composed

Meditation and curiosity

Dharma Dudes: No Thyself

June 27, 2016

I haven’t had much spare time lately what with work, moving house, and spending time with the kids. It’s been busy, exciting, rewarding and all that. Did I mention busy? But a couple of weeks ago I felt the unexpected urge to sketch some comic strips about meditation and related issues. Here’s the first, there may be […]

categories: comics

154 contemporary poets respond to Shakespeare’s sonnets

May 19, 2016

Helen Eastman of Live Canon has edited an anthology of 154 responses to Shakespeare’s sonnets. I contributed a response to sonnet XXV, titled ‘Perseids’. It is a testament to Helen’s energy and organisation that this happened at all. They say working with poets is like herding cats. Can you imagine trying to marshall 154 of them […]

categories: poems

Poems in Urthona & Live Canon

February 8, 2016

I’ve had some poems published recently, including three in Urthona: Buddhism & the Arts. It’s a great magazine if you’re into Buddhism, meditation, and literature. Here’s ‘Waiting for Al-Khidr’ from the magazine. Also in the issue are ‘The Pearl’ and ‘How I Became a Prophet’. It’s the current issue so consider subscribing if you’re interested […]

categories: poems

New Poems for Christmas

December 16, 2015

Ho ho ho! I have a poem in this new Christmas anthology. Each of the poems is a contemporary spin on the season to be jolly. My perhaps not-so-jolly poem, ‘The Cord’, recalls watching Nelson Mandela’s funeral on TV during the lead-in to Christmas 2013. The anthology was edited and produced by the Live Canon […]

categories: poems

Downshifting: balancing your job, life, and your art

November 27, 2015

I stumbled on this old productivity post which, ironically, I never did anything with. I wrote it a while ago when I was preoccupied with getting it all done: work, writing, music, life: the full catastrophe. I’m not sure in all honesty how good I am at implementing these strategies. I have a more relaxed attitude […]

categories: reflections