A poem about, well, poetry. Gee, I bet that headline gets you in.

People usually enjoy it when I post my own poetry here, and I am happy to do so, so long as some of you buy the book occasionally too. Remember, any profits benefit a number of wonderful charities. You can head to: http://tinyurl.com/7tzxxgg where it is available in both book format and download. I am [...]

A poem for Anzac Day … Remembrance Day … Memorial Day. All the days. And all the men and women. And those they left behind.

I wrote this poem, remembering attending so many Remembrance Day services with my mother, whose husband, the father who I never knew, died at 46, a cheerful but essentially broken man, after six years of service. I am very proud of this poem, both as a poem, in and of itself, and as an authentic [...]

Lodge Road, Southampton … a poem about a place, a very long time ago, and the love that was lost there

  LODGE ROAD, SOUTHAMPTON (1-3)   1 Determined, the bus belches its way up the incline. Inside, cold white faces stare at me, unseeing. They look at me but don’t watch. (I take care not to stare as they pull up at the flaky green bus stop But I do watch).   Out from the [...]

EQUAL LAST – when a relationship just runs out of time, out of will

EQUAL LAST   And sometimes, without warning, it is lost.   Like old men trying to finish a marathon, we keep running. Our spindly, shaking knees taking us all over the road. We trail behind. Even the spectators are leaving.   True, around corners we find unexpected relief. Small surprises of pleasure appear without warning. [...]

“Clearing up” – a poem about the day it all ends

  Once the decision was made, you were ruthless.   You hoovered away our life. Shuffled poems, letters, and sleeves crusty with bleeding hearts into drawers. Locked them, and threw away the key, making sure I saw it arc, scintillating, over the back wall and down the embankment.   Watching your demolition, I waited quiet [...]

SHARED BURDENS – a poem of my childhood

  When they buried Uncle Ken it took six strong men to get him into Chapel again. And I was one of them. Loitering outside Swansea Crematorium in the drizzle, old enough to smoke a Rothmans now and not get yelled at, I dreamed old tales of a Pathfinder bomber pilot. Bringing his plane home [...]

A beautiful poem about growing older

I hope this poem has the same effect on you as it did on me and then my re-posting it will be worth the effort. It’s called “Walk with me by the water” – it really is worth the read. Enjoy. Bugger. I forgot the words. (You are a very silly man, Simon. I am [...]

Stephen Yolland reads “Small Fry”

An oft-requested piece from my collection of poems. A little poetry now and again will provide some light relief from business,  politics and popular culture on the blog, eh? Mind you, this poem is pretty political, I guess. Anyway, hope you enjoy it, and here it is: I suppose one could call poetry unpopular culture, [...]

Stephen Yolland reads “Misses”

This was the first poem I wrote after 20 years of putting my pen down, (thanks to getting some dreadful “support and advice” from one individual at University)*, which in due course became a series of works about my childhood, and which now form the front section of my new book. Sorry you gotta look [...]