If I wake early I turn on Radio 4's Today programme, where the reliable grimness and predictability of the news is guaranteed to lull me back to sleep. This morning was no different - I snoozed peacefully to the grey wash of bankers' bonuses, NHS destruction, why our schools must teach facts ... Nothing there to welcome me to wakefulness.
All of a sudden, a break in the rhythm and tone snaps me awake. Robin Roberston is reading his poem, 'By Clachan Bridge'. I experience two minutes, maybe, of black beauty.
I've never heard Robin Robertson before, so I go online and listen to him read 'At Roane Head' too. I am transfixed. It's bleak, gleaming, and gorgeous.
It's on the Radio 4 website this week - along with readings from all the other poets shortlisted for this year's TS Eliot prize. Turn off the news, and go listen!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9361000/9361532.stm
No comments:
Post a Comment