The final two photos owe their existence to The Cock at Broom.
Monday, 23 May 2016
Friday, 20 May 2016
Things I Have Been Doing Recently
"So, what have you been doing recently?" you ask, prompted by the title of this post.
"The following -" I reply, "taking photographs, updating social media, writing very short poems."
This post is dedicated to these three things.
In March, my fifth book (Years Ago You Coloured Me, a poetry collection) was published. It now being May, it seemed a good idea to update the images on my social media sites to reflect the fact that I now have five, not four, books out. I have therefore been taking photographs of the aforementioned books in the hope of creating some suitable images for use on the aforementioned social media sites.
Having created some potentially suitable images, I've had to spend time updating my website, Facebook page, Google Plus, YouTube etc. The slightly annoying thing is that I rarely get to post the whole photograph on these sites. Some sort of cropping of the image is usually required. I am therefore posting the two main photographs on this blog so that you can see them in their entirety.
Writing-wise, I've been playing around with the Tanka form (these days, five lines of 5,7,5,7,7 syllables respectively). Corrupting it, people might say, as I haven't exactly been observing the traditional split between one phrase of 5,7,5 syllables and a second phrase of 7,7 syllables. Oh well...
Anyway, I've written a Tanka to accompany the photographs. Five books. Five lines of poetry. It seemed appropriate.
"The following -" I reply, "taking photographs, updating social media, writing very short poems."
This post is dedicated to these three things.
In March, my fifth book (Years Ago You Coloured Me, a poetry collection) was published. It now being May, it seemed a good idea to update the images on my social media sites to reflect the fact that I now have five, not four, books out. I have therefore been taking photographs of the aforementioned books in the hope of creating some suitable images for use on the aforementioned social media sites.
Having created some potentially suitable images, I've had to spend time updating my website, Facebook page, Google Plus, YouTube etc. The slightly annoying thing is that I rarely get to post the whole photograph on these sites. Some sort of cropping of the image is usually required. I am therefore posting the two main photographs on this blog so that you can see them in their entirety.
Writing-wise, I've been playing around with the Tanka form (these days, five lines of 5,7,5,7,7 syllables respectively). Corrupting it, people might say, as I haven't exactly been observing the traditional split between one phrase of 5,7,5 syllables and a second phrase of 7,7 syllables. Oh well...
Anyway, I've written a Tanka to accompany the photographs. Five books. Five lines of poetry. It seemed appropriate.
Five Books
Open these five books
carefully. They are filled with
dreams. But whose? Yours? The
writer’s? Readers not yet born?
Or do the books dream themselves?
J.S.Watts
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Spring Songs
"Living proof the world continues"
extract from "Lamb of The World" (Years Ago You Coloured Me by J.S.Watts)
"the sweet ease of living
That half the Earth flaunts around meWithout conscious exertion."
extract from "Losing The Easy" (Cats and Other Myths by J.S.Watts)
"stories we told ourselves then left behind,
even as we'll leave the imprint of our roots
when we move on - this garden makes good roots."
extract from "This Garden" (Years Ago You Coloured Me by J.S.Watts)
"the flush and roll of spring"
extract from "Harcamlow Way - a partial etching" (Years Ago You Coloured Me by J.S.Watts)
Monday, 2 May 2016
Industrial Agriculture
It's spring. The season, it seems, when every photographer rushes out with their camera to take cute photos of lambs and luscious, verdant landscapes, me included.
We shouldn't forget, however, that farming is an industry. The agricultural landscapes we are used to seeing and photographing are so often cultivated, managed and transformed to meet the needs of the farming industry.
These photographs celebrate the industrial nature of our countryside, specifically the countryside around me that I, and others, live and work in.
We shouldn't forget, however, that farming is an industry. The agricultural landscapes we are used to seeing and photographing are so often cultivated, managed and transformed to meet the needs of the farming industry.
These photographs celebrate the industrial nature of our countryside, specifically the countryside around me that I, and others, live and work in.
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