The Friday Poem

A poem every Friday

Ben Wilkinson

Picture of Don looking straight at the camera, He has a gray beard and a bald head, black jacket and white shirt.

My boy is painting outer space

Unpack a poem: Ben Wilkinson on 'The Circle' by Don Paterson
abstract image of a blurred blue head on a blue background with yellow red and green leaf like paint splurges running down the left hand side

One kid looking on in wonder

Matthew Stewart explores Ben Wilkinson’s poetic development and looks at his new collection, Same Difference (Seren, 2022)
What the Doorman Says

What the Doorman Says

by Ben Wilkinson — That he could kill for a smoke. / That the punters get older every year. / That really, he hardly ever has to lay a finger. / That even arterial blood washes right out. / That the fella with the dog
Black and white photo of Ben Wilkinson, a young friendly looking man with glasses

Castaway Companions

Castaway poet Ben Wilkinson chooses three poems by Louis MacNeice, Stevie Smith and John Keats to take to a desert island