The poems in this collection seem cut-ups/found and convey a sense of loss or change – though not as maudlin observations and rather moments of candour – as with first poem Downriver where

In the title poem, similar reports of diminution continue

The titles too [though not all] present decline, for example Skint City and Derailment, though in this latter there is hope/humour/’lite’ litotes perhaps

The A Circle of Mirrors section continues the patterning in lay-out. In Cantilever there is within this the playing with further patterns of repetitions, the brevity of the whole – as with each short poem [perfect for this Red Ceiling chapbook]  – providing succinct moments of aural clarity even when the ‘meanings’ shift with re-reading.

These ‘shifts’, by the way, are when we see beyond the perceived mood and simply enjoy the language and imagery that flashes before us, somewhat like

An evocative chapbook to have and read. Check here to order.

I received this certificate/award for my commitment to examining over the years, at GCSE and specifically, though not detailed here, for English Literature. It is a positive gesture of sorts, somewhat overdue – as annotated by me on the sheet – and smacking a little of that ‘corporate’ notion of reward and recognition that lacks the personal touch because it is automated by statistics held remotely somewhere: and in my case the wrong ones.

And I miffed? Apparently. I’m hard to please, I know, and easily riled when I should simply get on with more important things. Instead of writing a letter of complaint – my grumpy-old-man default position – I posted a picture of the certificate on Facebook as a means of demonstrating minor ire. I had two particularly clever responses: the first from one of my daughters suggesting I send it back for a ‘remark’ [that would have been very amusing], and another from a former student who suggested I ‘correct’ its error in red marker, which is what I have done and now share.

I know I’m just passing the time, and the catharsis is mildly pleasing. On a more serious note, I don’t think we are generally/nationally very good at recognising the long service of people in education, especially in schools – though there may be regional or specific examples of good practice here – and I would expand this to the public sector services more widely. The police force has a culture and system for acknowledging such, for example its Police Officer Long Service and Good Conduct Policy and Procedure which is/can be awarded at 20 years of service.

I want to be clear: I value the support and recognition from colleagues above all else in both teaching and examining experience, the former including that from students. As for examining, I have been doing so for at least 30 and probably more consecutive years. It is a professional commitment and doesn’t require a certificate of acknowledgement, but if I am going to get one, I should like it to accurately reflect more than just a third of that commitment.

Uncanny that in my transitory blog-turbining I have come across this current release Lease of Youth by coldwave/electronic artist Erskine Lynas – with this album cover:

I’m on this
most of every day –

emails, blogging,
social media,

fake and
real news,

where that next missile
will land,

the absurd words on
how to stop it all –

and I miss thirty odd
years ago:

queuing outside
for meat,

the butcher riding me
about teachers’ holidays,

queuing outside
for bread,

fresh smells sliding
along the long line,

bottled milk each day
at the front gate

and so seeing Bill – old
Luxton – at his shop

in town, tallying in a
note-book with a pencil,

adding up what’s owed
in real numbers.