Odyseus and Hermes by Thom Gunn It is amazing to find this poem I had never seen before in Thom Gunn’s collection “The Man with Night Sweats”. The second line, “-beard scarcely visible on his chin-” is from his introductory quote from Homer on the opening page of his collection “Moly” written in 1971…
Meeting Beetle: In my video on this blog called “Embracing Gaia Two” I mention a day at Schumacher College in Devon, UK. when I went for a long walk alone on the Dartington Estate. It lies on the edge of Dartmoor and the river Dart flows through it. For the first time in my life…
I would like to start a Poet’s group in Galway or near there. Maybe creative writing students from NUIG or GMIT who find the fare there a bit dull might be interested in a bi weekly or monthly meet. I have a tendency to like young poets who challenge conventions but have no age, gender…
My dear friend Beth Philips reminded people on Facebook to-day that it was Whitman’s birthday so I posted the following: Here are some (other) things to do on the day: 1. If you are feeling down or depressed read Whitman’s “Song of Myself” the first poem in “Leaves of Grass”. 2. Read a poem…
Bella Fitzpatrick writes in Ireland’s Gay Community News (GCN) of the 16th. March about the way Bisexuality is ignored or consumed under the blanket term Gay and about how many Gays are disappointed to find the characters in movies like “Call Me by Your Name” are actually Bisexual rather than Gay. I tend to agree…
Robert Duncan is a little known American poet, he was a friend of Thom Gunn and remembered in Gunn’s poem “Duncan” in Boss Cupid (2000). Gunn says of him: “While the pen wrote, and looked beyond conclusion” I am a bit haunted by metaphors about conclusions of late; Lorna Shaughnessy in “Sacrificial Wind” has Euripides…
I posted my introduction to this piece when it was performed at the new theatre space in National University of Ireland Galway on the 23 rd of November 2016. https://hugofgaia.com/2016/11/24/my-introdution-to-the-sacrificial-wind-at-nuig-24th-november-2016/?iframe=true&theme_preview=true The space is now officially opened and is called The O’ Donoghue Centre for Theatre and Performance apparently becoming known as The ODT among students. The…
I wrote a poem some time ago called “On Being Lost” which talked about a river called “Bunowen” in Connemara, Ireland and how the river was my guide out of a wilderness place in which my partner and I had lost our way. The poem is below but at the time of writing I also…
A Letter to My Friend David: U.K. Policing and Crime Bill 2017 (Note this Act does not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland) (Thousands of gay and bisexual men found guilty of decades-old sexual offences in England and Wales have been posthumously pardoned. Statutory pardons will also be granted to people still living…
Max’s NUIG production of The Bacchae by Euripides in a version by David Greig will be performed in the Mick Lally Theatre Galway from the 14th to the 18th of February. If you missed his Caucasian Chalk Circle don’t miss this. It is a small theatre, actually the old Druid in Druid Lane, so it…
Scott McVay, writing in the Prelude to “The Biophilia Hypothosis” (1993) edited by Kellert and Wilson says: “My conscious entry into the living tapestry of the Earth was through the whale tribe…My mentor was Ishmael, who on one occasion in “Moby Dick” was linked by a monkey-rope to Queequeg, a seasoned harpooner, standing on the…
In the Homeric Hymn to Dionysos we hear: “We, the poets, beginning and ending, we sing of you. Anyone who forgets you cannot remember sacred song.” All song is contained within that sacred space. Sitting here to day you should be very excited: very excited for two reasons. Firstly, because you are about to witness…
