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The Friday Poem

The Friday Poem

A poem every Friday

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Stephen Payne

Stephen Payne is Professor Emeritus at the University of Bath, where until September 2020 he taught and conducted research in Cognitive Science. He lives in Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan. His first full-length poetry collection, Pattern Beyond Chance, was published by HappenStance Press in 2015 and shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year. His second collection, The Windmill Proof (September 2021), and a pamphlet The Wax Argument & Other Thought Experiments (February 2022) were published by the same press. Stephen Payne’s website is here and he blogs here.

    black and white photograph of a park bench. There is a small backpack on one end. A glass and a bottle are nearby.

    Embraceable You

    Stephen Payne reviews Last Poems? by Brendan Cleary (Tall Lighthouse Press, 2023)
    Two green arrows show road directions and the letters A34 are shown in yellow.

    What clings to its underside

    Stephen Payne reviews House on the A34 by Philip Hancock (CB Editions, 2023)
    Section from the book cover. An abstract image that could be a sun and yellow sand, but ... you know.

    Form it from loosestrife, form it remorselessly

    Stephen Payne reviews Rope of Sand by Fiona Larkin (Pindrop Press, 2023)
    A yellow squiggle on a greyish background. Well I suppose, given the subject matter, it could be a mathematical symbol. But if you just think squiggle you'll probably be closer.

    They cannot subtract me

    Stephen Payne reviews Mathematics for Ladies: Poems on Women in Science by Jessy Randall (Goldsmiths Press, 2022)
    What does Stephen Payne say?

    What does Stephen Payne say?

    Beginnings and favourites. I enjoyed Keats at O 'Level, but not as much as Maths and Physics. The first poetry I fell hard for ...
    What looks like an ancient Greek plate or bowl. A bloke with a bad back seems to be have been bitten by a snake and he is gesticulating towards a reclining fellow who is possibly having his heart pecked out by a large bird of prey. Lotta blood, but they were rough in them days.

    Lots wider inside than it looks

    Stephen Payne reviews The Nature Thief by Henry Walters (The Waywiser Press, 2022)
    Avid alt text readers will notice that sometimes I am at a loss to pull meaning from a bewildering array of abstract book covers, this one is more figurative in nature, though not entirely clear. It appears to be painting of a crystal fruit bowl with what looks like an explosion of silhouetted grapes ... or cherries ... fruit anyway ... or maybe berries.

    More life!

    Stephen Payne reviews Scenes from Life on Earth by Kathryn Simmonds (Salt, 2022)
    A drawing of a horses head, the head is looking at us and seems to be on the body of a woman wearing a blue coat. The background is cream and white.

    Bone white, star bright

    Stephen Payne reviews Feeling Unusual by Ann Drysdale (Shoestring Press, 2022)
    looks like a sculpture of a red haired woman with wings (angel or dragon?) holding on to the left arm of a male figure.

    I would make a language out of this

    Stephen Payne reviews Speechless at Inch by James Caruth (Smith|Doorstop, 2021)
    Photo of a meat market porter at work

    The page my barrow and my charge the word

    Book Review: Stephen Payne reviews The Resurrectionists by John Challis (Bloodaxe, 2021)
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    25/11/2022

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    Head and shoulders photo of Rachael. She has short brown hair and glasses. She has her baby daughter in a sling across her chest.

    Rachael Matthews

    This page shows the features and reviews that Rachael Matthews has contributed to The Friday Poem.

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