poetry etc
For videos of recent performances go to
The main poetry collection, from the book "For the inquiry: poetry of the dirty war" is on the main web site www.nmellor.com
Particularly for English as a Foreign Language teachers and students, and also Humanities teachers, some notes on the poems are included in "NOTES for For The Inquiry" below
NEW POETRY COLLECTION
Peace and War is available on www.amazon.co.uk/Peace-War
NOTES FOR THE INQUIRY
NOTES FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AND HUMANITIES, PARTICULARLY THOSE LIVING OUTSIDE THE UK
GENERAL COMMENTS
The message of the book is one of hope: after terrible events, there will be “an Inquiry” . The poems themselves are, however, mainly quite bleak.
This assumption, that the truth will eventually come out, is admittedly based on a perspective that arises from a comfortable, stable European setting. I appreciate that many people cannot make this assumption.
For students in Social Studies / Humanities / Religious Education / History / Personal and Social Education etc, this publication can be used to spark off investigations in a wide variety of areas: bullying, environment, war, human rights, belief, mortality, relationships, parenting, loneliness. Students of English may wish to focus on the “boiled down” style (see below).
The book is designed with a typeface that looks rather like a newspaper article (Times New Roman) so that the poems hopefully come across as powerful and authoritative. I did not want the book to look like a cheap, boring political tract, or to look floral and delicate and lyrical as poetry collections often do. The book is printed on nice thick paper with lots of white space around the poems so they are easy on the eye. We spent a long time with the printer getting the balance of the design just right: powerful but attractive. The cover picture is also strong and eye catching (if a little garish) – not a typical poetry book cover. Such issues can form the basis of quite an interesting exercise for advanced writers.
You may copy the poems as often as you wish, as long as you make no financial profit from them. I retain the copyright.
THE WRITING
The style of writing is my own, and probably not typical of most British poetry. I do not follow conventional forms, such as the sonnet. This is “free verse”.
My belief is that the simplest words can create the most powerful emotions. The poem “The craft of the poet” tries to summarise this idea. I usually try to avoid long, powerful, fancy words like “iridescent”. A good exercise is to collect lots of beautiful, powerful, emotive words. Create a poem using these, then cut them all out to try to get to the essence of the emotional message with simple words: create a “boiled down” version. Then see which version you prefer.
I also usually try to avoid similes. Many poets I feel, seem to be mainly struggling to find another way to say “green like grass”. My aim is to use metaphor (and other techniques such as onomatopoeia) to show the reader the idea - to make them feel it, rather than simply tell them about it. I remember the Beatles telling their manager when they created the album “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” that they wanted the listener to smell the circus when they heard the music. You can judge for yourself how far I succeed in “showing” the reader, perhaps, for example, in the first line of “On Souter Fell”.
The poems generally do not have a conventional regular meter (or rhythm). My inclination is to use irregular rhythms, sometimes dimly remembered from childhood playground games (“Kevin Finney” is built on a vague memory of a skipping game using a long rope where you take turns running in) or perhaps the sound of a steam engine (“The man who knew the make”). These rhythms appeared in the poems unconsciously. I did not set out to build poems around them (although that can be an interesting exercise for students). Often the most important part of the poem, I feel, is the place where the rhythm breaks down or changes.
Religion found a way in, unconsciously. I am not religious, but the language of the Bible from childhood leaves a powerful imprint. For example, I eventually realised in the poem “The man who knew the make” that “Find him, pay him, sign and bind him” had echoes of an old Christian hymn from school with the line “praise him, praise him”. Indeed the whole poem explores a belief in a “maker”. Although a sad piece, it looks back to a more certain age: the age of steam and simple beliefs. It contrasts with the final poem “Afterwards” which is without hope (although, as mentioned earlier, the book itself holds out a glimmer of hope – that there will be an inquiry).
It was years before I discovered that many of the techniques I enjoyed in writing had been employed before, by Bertolt Brecht in his poems. I make no claim to match his quality, but understanding some of his approach helped me to understand mine. John Willett writing in Brecht’s volume of collected poems said he had a “flinty” effect - using short, hard words, along with irregular rhythms often taken from marches or street cries. As one reviewer kindly said about this book, it is “political in the best sense”. Brecht also stressed the need to think about the way a piece was delivered. These poems are designed to be spoken, often with a strong “gestural” quality . You can practice by using your hands to gesture as you say the poems. Also think about the expression on your face and the message you are trying to convey in your posture.
Many of the poems popped up when I was feeling sleepy. The hypnagogic state is a peculiar state between being awake and falling asleep. For some people, this can be a time of visual and auditory hallucination. “On Souter Fell” arose from a glimpse of a lonely farmhouse at dusk, from the back seat of my friend’s car after a long drive when I was nodding off. Many of the poems came from trying to capture the initial powerful feelings aroused by certain newspaper reports or TV programmes.
MY BACKGROUND
I live in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. Remnants of Hadrian’s Wall can still be found in the city. The area used to depend on heavy industry: coal, steel, shipbuilding, railways etc. (“carrying coals to Newcastle” is an old saying, which describes a pointless enterprise, like taking sand to the desert). These industries have almost vanished. They formed the heart of the industrial revolution and left behind great legends, but they also left behind great dereliction and high unemployment. There were scars on the landscape and the people.
For those listening to the audio tracks, my accent is from this North East region. It is called Geordie. It has old Viking, Dutch / German and Scottish influences. Apparently it is viewed by the rest of the country as friendly and honest, but definitely not upper class! The main peculiarity is in the vowel sounds. We have round, open vowels made way down in the throat which resonate in the chest. A good example can be found in a word such as “home”. A very upper class, Southern pronunciation might sound something like “herm” with a kind of cry in the voice, produced in the upper part of the mouth. We pronounce it to rhyme with the unit of electrical resistance: ohm - with a good full sound, deep in the chest.
EXTRA POINTS ABOUT INDIVIDUAL POEMS
1. The man who knew the make
Slake: There is an area of mud flats on the river Tyne known as Jarrow Slake . (The town of Jarrow appears in a later poem, see the discussion below).
2. On Souter Fell
Souter: This word sounds a little like sour tor (sour hill). A fell is a hill or moorland. This can be a beautiful place (as in the Lake District) but here is sad and lonely.
In these Northern latitudes we have a long period between day and night. This is when the sun has gone but the sky retains some “half light”, which can take on a magical quality – twilight. This can, however, also at times feel like a depressing light.
3. Vigil at Lavoite sur Loire
I noticed a gravestone by the road on holiday and copied down the inscription. It seemed very sad. The story is imagined - my apologies to any French readers.
4. Kevin Finney
This is based on a boy I taught. He failed at everything and had no friends. He was easily seen as one of life’s victims – but should he have been ?
Pinny is a pinafore. Hinny is a local term of endearment , like honey. Spinney is a small wood – there is one near my house, used as a playground; each tree was planted for a miner who died in a local mine disaster. Cherry is Cherry Blossom shoe polish. Lavvy is a lavatory.
5. Spider
The words anty, mothy and lasty are nonsense words. Spiderling are baby spiders. Frump is an old fashioned word for an unattractive, dowdy woman. The poem is written for a female voice.
6.Two foot of three by two pitch pine
Strictly this should be two feet, but two foot is often used in everyday speech.
Jarrow is a town on the river Tyne. Its name became synonymous with unemployment. The town had massive unemployment during the Great Depression. In 1936 the town organised a march to London to protest (The Jarrow Crusade).
In the UK, Jarrow is a very evocative name, which brings up many associations with poverty and failure. Learning a language is much more than simply learning the immediate meaning of words. For students outside the UK, a good exercise is to think about ideas on history and culture which would be triggered by using certain names from your own country.
7. Speelam on a Sunday
Speelam is a name I made up for a small town on the coast . When I visited many years ago it was terribly blighted by the waste from local industries. I was very upset. The name Speelam perhaps conjures up links with poverty – the Speenhamland System was an 18th century system of help for the poor which led to low wages. Happily the town has made great efforts recently to smarten itself up – I didn’t want to add to its burdens by using its real name.
8. The reburial of Lord Haw Haw
Lord Haw Haw (William Joyce) was an infamous World War 2 traitor.
9. At times like Spain
Alec was a local left wing activist who despised those he saw as fascists. I saw him on one occasion literally kick the bottoms (the Anglo-Saxon “arse” is a much ruder term than the American “ass” ) of some interlopers trying to disrupt one of his marches and get photos for their newspaper. Spain here refers to the Spanish civil war and the volunteers who joined in to fight.
10. Afterwards
The time of three o’clock popped up as this poem came to me. It can be symbolic of British comfort and security and “afternoon tea” as in “Stands the church clock at ten to three? And is there honey still for tea?” which is from Rupert Brooke’s poem “The Old Vicarage, Grantchester”.