Eloquent Protest

I shall  write today. Because there is little else I do well. That is not to say that I write well all the time. You’ll see from the blog that at times I write badly.  But I shall write all the same because I badly need to write.  

A lot of event has happened since the last blog but sometimes I can’t keep up to speed. Sometimes I can’t translate the events that are happening.  The mirror mists . It is difficult to describe, but deftly done in Alastair Campbell’s first novel which I am reading at the moment.

On 6th November I met some illuminating sixth form students who were studying Identity
and Struggle through love poems as part of the syllabus.  They had studied my love poetry and written essays about it. But they studied  the poems of another poet whom they assumed was out and gay. They found his email and wrote to him, having analysed his poems. He was not gay.  He was none too pleased and reacted with a little too much defensiveness.  I can’t say who he is. I’d love to.

Yesterdayon 10th November  I read on stage next to The Cabinet Office near Admiralty house on Trafalgar Square.  It was an event called Eloquent Protest and was introduced
by Tony Benn whom I had the honour of meeting before the event. It must be twenty years ago since I was on stage with him and  Jazzie B and a few others at The ICA.

Elequent Protest at The Trafalgar Studios was full of wonderful people not least Johnie Fiorie and Peter Straker. I had the pleasure of talking to Johnie backstage. She is wise.  She is a great singer, the kind that can make goose pimples happen and at the next note, sweat.  Presently Fiorie is playing   Motormouth Maybelle in the award winning  Hairspray on Shaftesbury Avenue.  I cycled to this event but got caught in the rain.   I cycled home.


2 thoughts on “Eloquent Protest

  1. You were awesome on sunday mate. Thanks so much for giving me your book too, I'm loving it so far. It's been a while since I read a collection of poetry and it's really inspiring me to both read and write more. I've written a bit about the day and our performance in nepal on my commonword blog
    Best wishes, Ben

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