Monday 17 December 2007

On Teaching

Understanding dawns
on this long winter morning -
eventually.

Friday 14 December 2007

On Deadlines and the Passage of Time

Midnight approaches
the remorseless moon still moves:
your abstract is due.

Wednesday 12 December 2007

On IT

Is this frozen screen
- like a parable of death -
meant to teach patience?

Monday 10 December 2007

University Festivities

An empty foyer.
The Department's plastic tree -
faint lights in the dark.

Friday 7 December 2007

On Winter Writing

Sparrow in the snow.
A punctuation of tracks -
black ink on paper.

Wednesday 5 December 2007

On the Difficulties of Prompting a Reply from a Peer

Hibernating bear.
My colleague, ferocious once,
on sabbatical.

Monday 3 December 2007

On Offprints

These wintery drifts,
papers heaped in my office -
how they fire my mind!

Friday 30 November 2007

After Basho's Most Famous Lines

A still library.
A student opens a book -
the crack of its spine.

Wednesday 28 November 2007

On Drafts

Faded grey toner.
Even the printer seems old,
exhausted by words.

Monday 26 November 2007

Outside the Library

Only autumn leaves
hide signs of desperation:
crushed cigarette butts.

Friday 23 November 2007

On Bibliophilia; A Poem Written Almost Entirely by Someone Else

Prospero knew it:
"Me, poor Man, my Library
was Dukedom enough."

Wednesday 21 November 2007

On the Possibilities of Renewal in Winter

Like the arctic hare,
with winter we don new coats:
corduroy or tweed?

Monday 19 November 2007

On the Conflicting Demands of Art and Academia

Autumnal musings
on fiery falling leaves:
bad for R.A.E.

Friday 16 November 2007

On a Sense of Panic Around the University

Swirling students skirl
like wind-blown autumnal leaves:
Examinations.

Wednesday 14 November 2007

On the Passage of Time and Favourite Writing Implements

The black ink rises.
How thirsty my fountain pen!
Dry from long neglect.

Monday 12 November 2007

On the Evidence of Previous Users' Mishandling of Library Books

Marginalia,
wild underlinings in pen!
Yet, they missed the point.

Wednesday 7 November 2007

On Lingering in the Department after 5pm

Coffee aroma
the microwave's lonely ping:
working late again.

Monday 5 November 2007

On the Library's Demand for a Book to be Returned

A recall notice.
Alas. Shall I never know
what the author wrote?

On Autumn Deadlines

In the quadrangle
shadows lengthen every night -
unlike my thesis!

On the Nature and Remit of This Blog

Ivory Haiku:
Musings from the Tower of
Academia