Cardiff poets celebrate their art

In a world crammed with iPads and other gizmos, the craft of thrusting pen to paper may seem outdated, and slightly lost. But for a few Cardiffians, this practice thrives.

Cardiff Writers’ Circle is among a gaggle of societies promoting this art. They meet weekly to share works, with more than 50 members and a vintage of longer than half a century.

Monday saw one of the group’s tri-annual writing competitions chaired by a guest adjudicator. The poetry competition allowed guest, Peter Finch, author of around 25 works and winner of the 2011 Ted Slade award for service to poetry, to share his insights and select a winner.

Finch’s view of poetry, often imagined as a world of scratching pens and bright inspiration, dispelled some illusions.

He said: “You get the impression people imagine poetry as something that strikes them as they walk down the streets, like a God-given thing they have no control over.

“Poetry does need an element of magic. Poetry’s a combination of practice, doing it, doing it again, following the art, and doing some more. It’s a combination of that, coupled with some kind of inspiration that comes from somewhere.

“There will be occasions where an idea comes along and it’s so great, you have to write it. But there are some times you have to complete ideas.

“Walking’s a great exercise for getting ideas to go in the mind. Often I have ideas but no notebook, so I get home and my ideas are on the answer phone.”

Peter, who has edited poetry periodicals, lamented an “inverse” market, where writers outnumber readers.

He said: “There are more people who want to be published than people who want to buy the periodical.

“You go along the racks of magazines at WHSmiths and you won’t find poetry magazines. The market isn’t there.”

“This is art, not capitalism, I suppose.”

He also described the pains of submitting poetry, with frequently negative responses from publishers.

One rejection received by a friend read: “It’s a pity you didn’t state your age in this letter as your poems sound like those of a 12-year-old. I would advise you to take a cavalry sword and use it to cut your willy off.”

He said: “I have always thought of rejections as sort of police raids because rejections always arrive early in the morning.”

The competition winner, Martin Pollard, may be pleased with the result. But it seems poetry is a long battle.

"I’ve been writing poetry on and off since I was a teenager, but it feels like the good poems are few and far between", said Pollard.

"The inspiration for this poem, the one Peter chose as the winner, was the end of a real-life relationship a few years ago."

WINNING POEM:

Patterns by Martin Pollard

I had forgotten the symptoms
of the single life:
that first night I could not find
the small saucepans,
the one-cup teabags,
my pyjamas,
crumpled and musty
in the depths of drawers.

I read the TV guide without irony
and was amazed, at bedtime,
to find the bathroom unoccupied,
toilet lid still raised.

At 2 a.m., sheets stretched
tight in my resting place,
I traced the depressions of
your body: the way the
bed dipped to embrace
its curves,
the signature of your spine
stamped in springs and fibres.

A week later it is gone,
mattress flattened into
solid plane and
inclined towards my body:
waiting for new shapes,
the comfort of patterns.