Meme 2
Latin puppets.
Latin puppets.
The Narcissi group like
Latin crosses toward the
Pavilion. Incantations
In their guts- fanning flames
Of a dormant sun.
A rhythmic action,
Made of each
Life that loved them once.
As an omen of spring;
A calling stone, yellow
Inks draining to secret doors.
Stalks beside stalk—
A procession of promises
Unkept.
The grass is scribbling,
The ash buds bloody black.
A good beginning
To things moving everywhere.
The security guard, paces toward a
Real door, then slows,
Stops, decides there maybe work
Waiting within and chooses to give the
Grounds another leisurely circuit.
No one knew he was there,
No one saw how close he got,
To pressing his shoulder against the door
And turning the handle,
Nick J Wood
Sea sores 2018.
A free sample of Sea sores, First thirty pages.
Meme 1.
Exstract from a long poem called Whale mantle, within the collection of Seasores.
What is the book about?
For many this world is a perpetual half-way point, a cash strapped twilight between limitless dreams and an even greater apathy to grasp them.
A nowhere city, between the familiar troubled beginning and the universal overdue destination. On the plus side this maddening middle turns out to be a worthy world to write about.
Sea sores is a debut collection of modern poetry in which Brighton and the sea, are recurring themes. The energetic city is situated at the fault line between England and the continent, between economic progress and economic stagnation, the place where sea, sky and land combine. A place where the counter point of the isolate country-side against the vibrant inner-city create a tension and energy, that has attracted many an outsider to call Brighton home.
It is a fairly large collection of fragments, that when read as a whole or in part aim to create a sense of place and time.
The work in these 250 pages explores themes of family, work, relationships and the natural world. It also deals with the anonymous reality of living in today’s fast paced, unforgiving economy. Increasingly most live within a lifestyle lacking privacy, at the same time our jobs demand long hours, for low-pay, and are largely unsecured. What the real world deprives us of is now subsidised by the virtual world, it provides an outlet for escape, with addictive alga-rhythms programmed to feed off our stunted attention spans. A place of placebo, that never provides conclusion, true satisfaction or cure.
I do not have the answers to any of these socio-economic dilemmas, I have merely observed and noted over time, what it is like to live and work in today’s society. This is a work of personal exploration, an escape from reality through the detoxicating effects of writing— detailing in my own manor, the varied and fragile people that together make the human experience of so eternally complexing, troubling, inspiring and perplexing.
To find the truth and the commonality within this experience is common aspiration of many writers. Sea sores is my attempt at trying to capture in my verses something worth the exercise and energies, something that will speak out from its pages to the reader as true, heartfelt and worthy of being written. I can hope for nothing more.
I appreciate greatly you taking the time to visit my book and even to consider purchasing my book, it means a lot to me every time someone makes that connection, either with me through my writing or begins a communication in relation to our common interest in writing and reading.
Don’t be shy, life’s to short, if you’ve read this far get in touch, comment and say hello.
Please contact me on here or on my work email Nickjohnwood@mail.com — alternately at seasores on instagram.
My book is published (But what happens next?).
It’s been a long while coming, many months and years of work to bring my debut collection into the world. The process of writing, compiling and editing has been a long and largely enjoyable process. Yet it has always felt like a splinter than needed to be pulled from within me, an irritation that would not cease until Sea sores was out in the world.
I’m proud of the book, it is as I imagined a representation of me heartfelt and rooted in my life and home city Brighton. Now the anti-climax of publication, after you have climbed this sizeable summit to actually have your book out there you are then confronted by a whole new set of peaks and find a crowd of fellow writers, bloggers, poets trying to asail to their heights ahead of you.
How to stand out? It could be the strength of your writing but I’ve read a great many famous insta poets who’s work would seem closer to the self help genre than the poet. I respect their success but at the same time I can’t seem to be dissuaded that there is something unoriginal about 95% of what is on instagram. The popularity of some very famous instagram poets seem closer to the adoration given by teenage girls to boy bands. The music may be terrible but they have found their market and are making a lot of money out of that rich teenage angst seam.
So this blog will be about my publication ‘sea sores’ but also about the process of moving forward, growing the readership, scratching my head in sentences about what next for a struggling author.
I truely look forward to going on this journey with you and sharing equally in your journey, after all we seem to be aiming at a similar summit, so it’s worth helping each other along the way.
Between a throne and a hard place.
A man is capable of so much but often does so little. Too often he dies a death of a thousand inconsequential tasks. Every man knows something about himself that no other soul will, and it is this, that torments him, what drives him to drink, into self destruction, depression and sabotages relationships. Men pretend the ‘what he earns’ or the ‘what he believes in’ has some meaning.
Occasionally someone does slip through the net, achieving all that they were capable of. Westand there gazing at our brother or sister in wonder, we write books about them and remember their deeds in histories, but they were little different from you or I; they just made a leap of faith, with a little more guts, at the right time and had a little more luck, they just didn’t mind falling on their face as much as the rest of us.
Perhaps realising before it was too late, that the pointless activities filling our lives take up about as much time and effort to achieve, as the greater goals would, therefore between the two, it is easier to see that if this train is always going the same way, they might as well risk riding on the roof.
Beast
Beast.
Your future is a wild horse, belonging to you and no one else.
don’t stand back watching it run away, hoping one day it
will tame itself, or that someone else will come take the reins
cause they won’t, they’ve got their own
bruised buck to break in.
So when you do try taming it, do so without fear of falling.
don’t become disheartened when others
ride away before your charge is ready.
never let the ease that they appear to control
their future weaken your resolve, because you have no idea
how many difficult nights passed before they were able
to show such confidence in the saddle.
with trust and patience you can become master
of your dreams, only then your future self and who you
are today can meet one another,
think of all that is still within you, can you
see just how far your future is willing to take you,
it is your guide,,, believe!
