Judith Willson: ‘Fragile as old film, the miners whistle their names’ thin tunes –
John Newton, Cageman. Tom Evans, Shaftman – lines of them
rising from the archives, red dust on their backs. ‘

Colin Honnor: ‘Readied for the Push in drizzle
of Flanders in a blind November
they heard the music of the brazier
singing the chorus of the ember…’

Ian Seed: ‘They pointed up at us and laughed, but the laughter had anger in it. I led my wife by another alleyway back to the hotel. I hoped they would not follow us, but a large crowd soon gathered outside and began to shout and shake their fists.’

Maurice Scully: ‘Random
patches of fog now & then
obscured the view & hung
motionless in many places
above the swamp. The road
was bad. ‘

Robert Saxton: ‘It is in short, concentrated readings, and particularly divinatory readings, that the changing lines come into their own. For those open-minded about chance, intuition and destiny, and the possible connections between them, it might be fruitful to experiment with the poem as an instrument—a mirror—for oracular introspection in the manner of the I Ching. ‘