Michael symmons roberts poems about friendship

  • I'm a poet, but through that I can write in other forms.
  • Amid the signs reading 'SILENCE – EXAMS IN PROGRESS', we talked about Roberts's poem 'Terra Nullius' and his book Mancunia, the forthcoming.
  • Two old friends in darkness years from now, snaking up the garden steps with an ancient petrol lighter, to try to trick the cat's-eye into.

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    Prac Crit

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    I have a favourite quotation of W.H. Auden’s in which he says – when writing – he’s either got a form looking for a theme or a theme looking for a form. Does that apply to how you write? If so, which came first for ‘Terra Nullius’?

    MSR

    It does apply with me and it comes in different ways for different poems. As it often seems to be with me, there wasn’t a single route into the poem; there were several that came together at the same point. This particular summer inom was up on the Northumberland coast. I was aware of the shape of Mancunia being Manchester shading into mythic versions of Manchester, Manchester being a city which mythologises itself greatly and is mythologised. That myth shades through into a form eller gestalt of utopia or dystopia because, as soon as cities become mythic, they do get into that territory. I had done one or two broadcast things to do with the big anniversary of Thomas More’s Utopia. More’s Utopia – which fryst vatten such a strange and disturbing a

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    How We Met: James MacMillan & Michael Symmons Roberts

    James MacMillan, 49, is a classical composer and conductor known for his accessible style. When the Scottish Parliament reconvened in 1999, his fanfare accompanied the Queen into the chamber, and he was commissioned by Westminster Cathedral to record a Mass for the Millennium. He lives in Glasgow with his wife and children

    I met Michael 13 years ago when he came to interview me for a documentary he was making for Radio 4 called Contemporaries of Christ. He was speaking to all sorts of people – actors, DJs and composers – who were around the same age as Christ at the time of his crucifixion, to get their take on the story of the Passion. It was intriguing and I was keen to know more about Michael and how he'd arrived at the idea.

    As soon as I began to read his poetry I recognised a compatibility between us. His work is very complex – it doesn't immediately communicate its sense to you, but lingers and resonates. It's not what

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    Waiting

    It looks like the people are in church, worshipping the god time, or waiting for some miracle – that’s in this piece. It’s not just the ordinary occurrence. — Lavinia Greenlaw on Audio Obscura

    That woman in a blue business suit scanning the departure boards with barely contained excitement. Has she got that promotion? Made that deal? Bought that flat? No. Look again. It’s not departures but arrivals that hold her attention. Who’s she waiting for? Lover? Child? A friend she’s lined up for a night out? No. Not friend. Not night out. The excitement is too much. She’s grinning. Almost laughing. Then she looks around to check no-one’s noticed. But you have. And you’ve noticed the bored teenager by the newspaper stand, clutching a bouquet of irises. And you’ve noticed the elderly couple outside the cafe, sipping their tea in silent, perfect synchronicity. And you’ve noticed the backpacker urgently gla

  • michael symmons roberts poems about friendship