CHEERFUL NOISE as in a poem

The Slant Door by George Szirtes  (published by Secker & Warburg 1979) I first bought, read the second-hand book after attending the ceremony of 2013 Troubadour international poetry competition. Interested in a debut full-length collection of a poet. In the book, his archetype could be found. My favorite is ‘A Balcony’.

Lotus Gatherers by Amali Rodrigo (published by BLOODAXE BOOKS, ISBN9781780372877) Why have I continuously participated in workshops abroad? My answer is very simple: encounter with great-talented poets and tutors coming from various places. This book was written by a poet Amali Rodrigo who was born and grew up in Sri Lanka, now living in London. I have been  enormously inspired by her passion, creativity, and bold thinking since meeting in the workshop in 2012.

The Lammas Hireling by Ian Duhig (published by PICADOR, ISBN9780330492386)       Ian Duhig is a poet who tutored me in 2010 and 2012 ARVON writing workshops. Mostly, his books require much knowledge of European history and literature, in particular, The Speed of Dark . However, I can enjoy reading the book The Lammas Hireling . The theme range of the collection is wide: subject matters on his Irish heritage, Christianity, Chinese sonnets, etc.      Two poems ‘Meet The Duhigs’ and ‘The Fiddle Teacher’ are familiar to me. Reading the former, I am intrigued by wide spread of his family name in the world, e.g., geographically, Brisbane. In the historical viewpoint, the meaning might be beyond my imagination. The latter is a bit occult in the second quatrain. Here, I hear Vincent Price’s laughing in Michael Jackson’s Thriller . The poem could be good to be read as spoken words for me.

A poem ‘Miss Jenkins’ by Julia Copus (from The World’s Two Smallest Humans published by faber and faber, ISBN978-0-571-28457-3)           First, please click the following to read the poem.  https://poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/miss-jenkins/           I took a part in a poet Julia Copus’ poetry workshop in 2012. At that time I purchased the above book. In 2019 now my understanding of the book has a bit advanced. I can enjoy some poems in the book and further want to know more about the background of every poem and Heroides (as quote in a poem 'HERO').           Here, I would like to read the poem ‘Miss Jenkins’ with a palindrome form requiring high skill (the book also includes a poem ‘Raymond, at 60’ with the same form).           Finely portrayed is one recalling scene of Miss Jenkins’ working days (maybe she was previously a teacher). In both stanzas, a phrase “when absence thickened the air” is impressive at the beginning and ending, respectively

Last spring I attended a poetry workshop in Portugal. Every session was great for me. Delighted that an attendee translated my poem Offshore Sakhalin Island into French. See English version, LOSSLIT Issue 9 ( http://losslit.com/feature/offshore-sakhalin-island/ ). I would like to show the French translation here. Thank you, G é rard.

    A poem ' VISIBILITY LIMITED'      A poem 'VISIBILITY LIMITED' is written by a highly accomplished translator and poet William I. Elliott.  I suppose that a lot of readers might not know his face as a great poet. So I would like to introduce his poem 'VISIBILITY LIMITED' here.                                                         VISIBILITY LIMITED                                       Whether they are wide open,                                        cracked open an inch or two                                         or closed but transparent,                                           or closed but translucent,                                           words are windows; yet                                                 I see you see me                                                   only so far,                                                  for soon we run                                                     smack in

My debut poetry chapbook Untouched Landscape was published by Clare Songbirds Publishing House (NY state, US) in 2018.  You can purchase it via the following website (please input my name Hideko Sueoka into search box at top right). Thank you. https://www.claresongbirdspub.com/shop/poetry/