Destination: Beeston, Nottinghamshire

Tonight I’ll be reading at the Beeston International Poetry Festival.

It’s at 7pm at the Flying Goose Cafe, 33 Chilwell Road, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1EH.

Arrival 17: Portsmouth, NH, USA

Portsmouth, NH, USA
Sent Friday 1st October 2010
Arrived Saturday 16 October 2010
Emailed back Sunday 24 October 2010

The
Waterfront City
is known by
supporters
as the
ancient, glorious Pompey.
Not
to be
confused with ‘Pompeii’
or,
as the
guide warns us,
‘Pompei.’
And
you, across
the salty seas,

behind
-indeed- the
Salt Pile, what
mist,
overcast weather
shelters your home?
What
reflections link
the old river
with
the Piscataqua,
what rain type
will
greet what
you now hold?

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Arrival 16: San Francisco, CA, USA

San Francisco, CA, USA
Sent Tuesday 05 October 2010
Arrived Friday 15 October 2010
Emailed back Thursday 21 October 2010

The
bridge is
suspended by cables
of mist.
River-
coast to
coast the air
has another smell.
Japanese gardens
flowered
along the
building of rails
smell
of soy
sauce & oranges,
sweaty
denim and
a salad of
foreign tongues.
Lights
still flood
the city through
thick
fog & heartbreak.
Here
rebirth means
never to forget.
Listen
to beggars:
they speak truth.

Supplies

Today I bought a new block of 50 blank postcards from another supplier. They were cheaper and of the same quality. Nice.

Queue

Thank you all who have requested poems. I haven’t been able to write them and post them as fast as I should have after I received your kind requests. I will do so promptly, I promise.

Life sometimes gets in the way, but the project is still on…

It’s been nice to watch the map grow.

And if you have not requested a postcard… what are you waiting for?

Arrival 15: Castroville, CA, USA

Castroville, CA, USA
Sent Saturday 02 October 2010
Received ca. Friday, 08 October 2010
Emailed back Sunday, 17 October 2010

Most
Babaylans before
those of my
language arrived
on
the islands
were miracle women,
you
know this
but the centre
was
the healing
of the body
&
the healing
of the heart.
Poetess,
Priest, angel,
your inked hands
touched
my tongue
still hurting for
adobo
smelling of
the ‘mole’ of
my
grandparents, even
those
I never
made my own.

Arrival 14: Québec, Québec, Canadá

Québec, Canada
Sent Monday 4 October 2010
Arrived Tuesday 12 October 2010
Emailed back Friday, 15 October 2010

Había una vez
una calle
canadiense
(las calles canadienses
son distintas)
una
de nombre
“regreso”, o quizá
“vuelta”,
aunque dicen
los que saben
que
de ahí
nadie ha regresado.
Por
la noche
la nieve cubre
ronquidos
lentos, cariñosos.
la luna alumbra
blancuras
que deslumbran
a viajeros somnolientos.
Hay
que tener
cuidado de nunca
resbalarse.

Arrival 13: Kent, Ohio, USA

Kent, Ohio, USA
Sent Friday 1st October 2010
Arrived Saturday 09 October 2010
Emailed back Wednesday 13 October 2010

History,
series of
instants followed by
other
instants and
places; town names
existing,
shamelessly living
a double life.

Arrival 12: Hartford, CT, USA

Hartford, CT, USA
Sent Friday 1st October 2010
Received Saturday, 9 October 2010
Photo taken early morning Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Emailed back Wednesday 13 October 2010

It
is well
known, is it
not,
that
the sea
comes & goes,
gives
& takes;
it is always
there.

Its movement
makes us feel
hope
is made
of sunsets, dawn,
everything
a reason
for something else

Arrival 11: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Santa Fe, NM, USA
Sent Tuesday 5 October 2010
Arrived and emailed back on Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Some strange folk
suffer from
addictions:
celluloide, chocolate,
the expressions of film
and foil.
There
lies a
faith in things
resembling
religious inspiration
a sincere willingess
to
give hands
(a standing ovation)
even
when the
actresses & all
are
far away
& maybe deaf.
Before
gold there
was cocoa coins.
The
passion of
dreams is judged
by all,
eventually