Day 4 of Bike Riding
And the chain came off again! I think the major problem is the way that I
change gears. I know the major problem
is the way that I change the gears. I do
it badly. Consistently badly. And the chain comes off. Something to work on.
I am now
getting used to riding the bike, but I am still not convinced that it is ever
going to ‘take’ as far as I am concerned.
March poems
It is only right and proper that some of my poems should
reflect the importance of this month to Wales.
And one of them does. You can
read it at: http://smrnewpoems.blogspot.com.es
and with this one, more than some of the others, I would appreciate
feedback. But, I have to admit that I am
content as long as at least one other human life form has read it!
I think
that the present poem could be the penultimate one to be included in ‘Flesh Can
Be Bright’ (to be published in the autumn) and I can now, or at least in a few
days time, get down to the onerous task of editing, redrafting and preparing
the book for publication. I have offers
of proof reading for which I am very grateful and I only hope that the other
aspects of the book which are outside my direct control all come together in
the next few months.
I am very
much looking forward to this publishing event!
A small thing, but mine own!
Lunch
Another meal in the restaurant that we still refer to as The
Card Place in spite of the fact that the free meal incentive card that they
used has long since been discarded.
More photos
were taken to illustrate Toni’s blog and he is now well into double figures in
the establishments that he has covered and illustrated.
Out and about
This evening I’m off to Barcelona for a meeting of the
poetry group which I joined when I was taking A215 Creative Writing with the
Open University. I have kept on with
this group because it is warm, friendly and productive.
One of my
friends there is thinking of taking the University of Iowa’s free on-line
course in Creative Writing. This is the
course that I did just after the Open University module and I thoroughly
recommend it. It is the sort of course
that I might re-take some time in the future, especially if I need the impetus
to write more poetry. I found it
stimulating and supportive.
Hotels
For some reason which I find difficult to understand all the
hotels in Barcelona are suddenly more expensive that they were a week ago. The hotel I usually use is charging more than
double the rate I paid two weeks ago! There
are no holidays as far as I can work out; I am at a loss to explain.
The end result
of this hike in prices is that I am going in my car. Parking in the centre of Barcelona (and our
little group meets within a stone’s throw of the Cathedral) is exorbitant, but
it is a damn sight cheaper than staying in an inexplicably expensive room.
As I am
driving I am taking fruit juice with me for the ‘meal’ we have half way through
the evening. God alone knows what a
totally sober poet produces!
