Good evening! Or good afternoon, as it’s still not quite five p.m., even if it’s already as dark as a summer night. Evening doesn’t start till five, right? Don’t give me any of that six p.m., seven p.m. rubbish. Five p.m. was when CITV stopped and the adult programmes began, so that was the death of afternoon.
Literally off-topic before I’ve even approached being on-topic. Starting as we mean to go on.
Welcome to the Poetry Advent Calendar 2023! Most of you loyal readers will surely know how it works by now, but for those who somehow still haven’t twigged, from tomorrow until Christmas Eve, I’ll be attempting to conceive, write, edit and publish a brand new poem every single day, at considerable cost to my sanity, quality time and, usually, pride.
24 new poems, you say? Doesn’t that seem rather a lot in just over three weeks? Well, yes, it does, and I make no allowances for standard. By now I’ve accepted the inevitability that a decent chunk of them will be not as good as I’d usually write, and certainly not as good as anyone else would write, but the challenge is the challenge, the rules are the rules, and the Poetry Advent Calendar is, once again, the Poetry Advent Calendar. It’s been nine years, I can’t mess with the format now.
Talking of which, every year I tell myself I’ll update the design of the actual website you’re reading, but I never do. And now I’m nostalgically attached to it; Christmas is all about old-fashioned rubbish and nostalgia anyway, isn’t it?
Another thing I tell myself I’ll do every year is publish some of these poems properly, and maybe make a couple of quid off them, but another year has slipped past and I still haven’t. Which means they’re still completely free to read, as is every other poem I’ve published on this blog since 2014. Have a rummage – there’s some decent stuff buried amongst the poetic packing peanuts.
That being said, if you like paying for your poetry and want to divest yourself of some money in return for the literary feast that’s about to commence, please do head to JustGiving and this year’s Poetry Advent Calendar fundraiser, raising money for the inspiring people at Asylum Welcome and the brilliant, vital work they do with the refugee community in Oxford and beyond. Jesus was a refugee, let’s not forget, so think of it as a birthday present for him.
Oh, and one more thing – I couldn’t let this first installment of this seventh blog begin without mention of the legend that passed today – the one and only Shane MacGowan. He was such a beautifully talented wordsmith, a poet, a punk, a pirate, a pisshead, and as much of an embodiment of that hacknied phrase, “one of a kind” as you could ever imagine. I would say the world will be poorer without him but his words live on. His songs will outlast all of us. Rest in peace, Shane. Here’s a quick poem for you.
An Old Man Said To Me (Monostich for Shane MacGowan)
Won’t see another one.
Love and light – see you tomorrow.
Owen x
The Poetry Advent Calendar 