Selected poems
MOVING TO MARS
"Corms, domes
'Abodes of Life'
inflatable habitat prototypes"
A series of three visual-led poems created for the Design Museum's shop to coincide with the Moving to Mars exhibition — an immersive experience exploring the Martian landscape and rethinking the design of daily life.
A collaboration with artist Lee Shearman, each of the three books — Arrive & Explore, Survive & Expand and Thrive & Exploit — focuses on a different stage of potential relocation to the red planet.
Produced as handmade miniature books by Micro Library Books. Giclee print on 180 gsm Xativa paper with rayon and card hardbound covers. Dimensions: 35mm x 50mm x 14mm (closed) 35 x 50 x 1088mm (unfurled).
TALKING TO THE PLANTS
"with you, waiting
until: struck with a stick,
the terracotta makes a ringing sound
calling for more water"
'Talking to the Plants' was written during the Covid-19 pandemic in the midst of the UK lockdown.
This poem is the second in a series exploring UK political events through the transition of the seasons. It is inspired by a gardening guide from the 1950s.
Illustration © Lee Shearman
EACH DAY, MORE LIGHT
"An extra day of winter
to clear away with
the spring-tine rake —
an extra day, together,
to wait"
'Each day, more light' was composed immediately following the 2019 UK general election. The poem is set on leap day 2020 and imagines the transition from hibernation to hope, after a bleak winter.
This is the first poem in a series exploring UK political events through the transition of the seasons. It is inspired by a gardening guide from the 1950s.
FATHOMS
"Your outstretched arms: a coast
imperfectly known, a shoreline
unsurveyed"
A visual-led poem about the beginning of a relationship. The text incorporates captions from Symbols and Abbreviations used on Admiralty Charts, Hydrographic Dept., MoD, Taunton, Nov. 1973.
Fathom: a unit of length equal to six feet, in reference to the depth of water. From the Old English 'fæthm', the original sense was 'something that embraces'; hence the measurement is based on the span of the outstretched arms from fingertip to fingertip.
A collaboration with artist Lee Shearman. Produced as a handmade miniature book by Micro Library Books. 32 concertina pages, 160gsm paper, tweed green rayon cover with printed belly band.
Dimensions when closed: 35 x 50 x 14mm.
NEAP TIDE
"No-to-low risk of:
coral, mangroves,
glaciers, lava flows"
A companion to Fathoms, this poem features elements from the same admiralty chart in a poem about seeking drama in safety.
Neap Tide: the tide just after the first and third quarters of the moon, when the difference between high and low tide is at its smallest.
A collaboration with artist Lee Shearman. Produced as a handmade miniature book by Micro Library Books. 32 concertina pages, 160gsm paper, lavender-coloured rayon cover with printed belly band.
Dimensions when closed: 35 x 50 x 14mm.