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Writer's pictureMartin Pickard

old beginnings.

This poem emerged from a writing exercise suggested by the poet Jo Bell. It is constructed of first lines from abandoned poems in my 2022 notebook. Some of them may reappear later in the year but for now they have found a home together that makes an odd kind of sense (to me, anyway)


snot rags and guilt bags

this is not a raised arm welcome to the freedom of the city


goldfinch in the kitchen

up against the wall

pie and mash and liquor with sawdust on the floor


beech life is a virus

you don’t look ill at all

my arm is not a swinger any more


the small clothes in the wardrobe

the rules we learn to follow

In the friendly village facebook group


time for wednesday wine

I’m crossing the line

raise a glass to the last unwanted


broccoli has a problem

the dog, the cat, the bird.

the man who invented fresh air


metamorphoses will follow

a desire to inspire or expire

like a rogue monkey in a clockwork sky

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6 Comments


Unknown member
Feb 08, 2023

Thank you

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Julie Walker
Julie Walker
Jan 16, 2023

I like this ... got me thinking. Wednesday wine, broccoli, so much to think about. My writing is so bad now I can't read it so I always type. But when I type I tend to delete lines rather than keeping them in a notebook like I used to. I miss that.

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Unknown member
Feb 08, 2023
Replying to

My "notebooks" are folders on my ipad these days. I don't delete drafts so there are lots of versions of each poem from idea to final (?) version

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Alison Blevins
Alison Blevins
Jan 16, 2023

Love this Martin and each of those lines has impact, for me it was small clothes in the wardrobe and broccoli has a problem. One made me whistful the other made me laugh. I may steal one, ( possible challenge in here?).Thank you.

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Unknown member
Feb 08, 2023
Replying to

The small clothes that lurk in the shadows waiting for a slimmer younger me to return

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Jon Best
Jon Best
Jan 14, 2023

Martin well done on blending these different elements there is cohesion here despite the poems origins

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