A deluge of wonders, my second poetry anthology, contains two extended reflections: on migration (in space and time and more), and the pervasive influence of computer and mobile technology on our lives.  Among further existential musings on life and the universe, a third major theme considers the conversations that we have with others and ourselves.  

Extracts

Deluge of wonders (III)

Goldfish

Vanessa Jiminez Gabb, poet, comments:

"the freedom and range of tone – the whimsical, the reverent/irreverent, the deeply meditative and the extemporaneous – and the subjects with which the manuscript is preoccupied: love and existence, the urgency of the sociopolitical, the way the global informs the intimate. The collection feels both contemporary and enduring, much of which is owed to the astute observations of our world and how the author has moved through it, making magic of the mundane, as well as the fun had with / the possibilities explored through the constraint of rhyme.”

Extracts

On being a meringue

When

Meet Tony, an ordinary man on an ordinary flight. Well... Not quite. 

When his plane is hijacked, Tony swallows an archangel’s eyelash. Now part-angel, he enters Angeland. Passing through Heaven and the Realm of the White Mountain, he embarks on an incredible adventure. But Tony is never far from earthly influences.

To avoid disaster on an epic scale, seven archangels assemble at their Council. Together they try a variety of ideas to remove the eyelash, but will any prove a success?

Extract: first three chapters

Working in bureaucracies provides bountiful material for satire, normally coupled with a supply of colleagues willing to send themselves up by participating in drama.  I've written, directed and acted in a range of plays and songs, particularly in the UN.

I've been on the organizing committee of this initiative in UNFPA since 2020, set up during the COVID-19 epidemic while everyone was social distancing, which uses art in all forms to promote diversity and inclusion.