I took this photo a couple of weeks ago, in the Caribbean. It’s Derek Walcott’s childhood home in Castries, St Lucia. I had some Walcott with me; I like to read poets in their own territory. I’ve read Pablo Neruda in Chile, Robert Lowell in Boston, Dylan Thomas on the Gower Peninsular and, to give … Continue reading ‘breakers that chuff; long, leaden swells of pewter’
Tag: Dylan Thomas
‘He was mine before I was taught him’
The title quote is from Terrance Hayes, in his Paris Review interview. He’s talking about Yusef Komunyakaa: ‘I got a great deal from his work before I felt like I could explain what I was getting. He was mine before I was taught him’ It set me thinking - who were my poets before I … Continue reading ‘He was mine before I was taught him’

