I have decided to cycle the length of the UK - Land's End to John o'Groats - on my exercise bike. Over 1,500 km split across 57 'stages'. Okay, so there are no uphills - but there are no downhills either! It seemed like a good idea: keep fit, have a challenge to aim for, … Continue reading Sound body, sound mind..?
Category: Poetry
Substack: Nirvana or the Emperor’s New Clothes?
It seems lots of people are deserting WordPress for Substack, lured by the notion of creating 'newsletters' that people will pay to receive. That and knowing they'll be rubbing virtual shoulders with famous names and literary goliaths - and the fact that Substack is currently 'free'. So is it a good move? It's tempting, of … Continue reading Substack: Nirvana or the Emperor’s New Clothes?
The Binding of the Sea
The Binding of the Sea would the tide never stop coming in inching ever higher as the months passed there were only two roads out each burdened with over-familiarity all novelty quagmire-sunk as if the peninsula had capitulated and the sea invaded the land going further afield they sought pubs in out-of-the-way locations explorers for … Continue reading The Binding of the Sea
Short-term, long-term, short-term; the Shifting Horizons of our lives
There is an immediacy about childhood. We are impatient, fickle; we want today's new thing, an ice cream, to go to the park. And we always want them now. For young children, tomorrow simply doesn't exist. Then things change. School does that to us. It introduces us to "school days", "weekends", "holidays"; eventually it becomes … Continue reading Short-term, long-term, short-term; the Shifting Horizons of our lives
Music: the barometer of your Happy Place?
If you're like me, there will be music you listen to which reflects your mood - particularly at the extremes. Right now The Cure's "Galore" is blasting out of my stereo, one of my 'go to' albums when I'm in a really good mood. Today the weather's great, I went for a run first thing, … Continue reading Music: the barometer of your Happy Place?
Think you’re secure with a WordPress ‘Contact’ page?
I was getting tired of being spammed by people using my website's Contact page to do so. Something had to be done. So I added a checkbox that needed to be ticked in order for the contact form to be successfully sent. I thought this might filter out any automated messaging - and maybe help … Continue reading Think you’re secure with a WordPress ‘Contact’ page?
The downside of looking back too far…
It seemed like a good idea. I mean, I had some free time on my hands after all. Not for right now you understand, but for some point in the future - just in case 'posterity' might ever need it... Over the years I have written (thus far) a number of volumes of poetry, and … Continue reading The downside of looking back too far…
Published today! “The Homelessness of a Child”
My sixth collection of poetry - "The Homelessness of a Child" - is published today, 1st April. Perhaps long overdue, a fair proportion is an exploration of the hardships and repercussions of my difficult childhood. As the intro says: "By the time Ian Gouge went to university he had already lived in seventeen different places … Continue reading Published today! “The Homelessness of a Child”
Not The National Poetry Competition
Imagine the scene. The knock at the door. The delivery man. In his hands, an A4-sized box, the kind that contains those four-pack reams of paper you get for your inkjet printer. He smiles and hands you the box. "I'll go and get the other eight"... Once you have closed the front door, you turn … Continue reading Not The National Poetry Competition
Forthcoming book – April publication
My sixth collection of poetry - "The Homelessness of a Child" - will be published on 10th April. Perhaps long overdue, a fair proportion is an exploration of the hardships and repercussions of my difficult childhood. As the intro says: "By the time Ian Gouge went to university he had already lived in seventeen different … Continue reading Forthcoming book – April publication
Ian Gouge - Writer 