Poetry reading at The Troubadour, Coffee House Poetry Night 12 Dec 2016

Anne-Marie Fyfe invited me to read a poem at the final Coffee Hose poetry night of the year. It is always with such joy and pride that I get to read at The Troubadour. Established in the 1950's and through the 1960's it became a focal point for London's burgeoning creative outpouring. Private Eye was conceived there and distributed, and Bob Dylan performed there in the early 1960's. Anne-Marie Fyfe and Cahal Dallat have been running the the Coffee House poetry nights for the past 20 years. It is not open mic. Anne-Marie chooses and curates the evening through poets she believes in, some she has encountered and heard through her workshop, some reading their poems are also war correspondents and professors. Anne-Marie and Cahal are both prolific poets, and recently went on a tour of the U.S reading their work. Anne-Marie was also head of the Poetry Society. It is always an evening packed full of high quality work, very rich in variety.

The theme was Here Comes The Night, I read my poem Possession from my second collection The Lock And The Key. Surely a capturing of an element of the night. The spiritual and the sexual channeled through the conduit of love. That's how the poem came through me. The only way it could. I felt extremely emotional reading, full of joy and gratitude. I led a round of applause for Anne-Marie, to thank her for the evening, her faith in me, everything. I will always be grateful to her. I respect her deeply. After my reading I sat back on the wooden bench in the basement and let the poetry wash over me. Everyone listens intently to everyone else, the focus is the work, the art, the person, who has left, whatever obstacles or privileges or limitations behind as they step onto the stage and share their words. Everyone else in the room willing them on.

Ron Villanueva was present, it is always a pleasure to hear him read. I also got to see my friend Katarina, a young writer herself, who I look forward to hearing perform. We teamed up with her and managed to get the third prize in the quiz held in the intermission.

I look forward to the start of the Coffee House poetry season next year.