Category: Cymru, Cymraeg

Poetry Thanks and Praise

A Gradual Return to Normality or Will Things Ever be the Same?

In 2022 social activities, and real-life poetry events, hesitated back into calendars. Meanwhile, streamed readings, podcasts, and workshops, Zoom launches and open mics continued to flourish … welcomed by poets who were, or are, less mobile, or for whom face-to-face meetings continued to be unwise or unappealing. The huge advantages of virtual events are well acknowledged: national and international audiences for poets’ work, greater diversity of input and output at workshops, and exposure to a much wider range of poetics and cultural traditions. It’s all about extended reach. For some, the climbing stats for Covid, flu and streptococcal infections, as 2022 drew to a close, encouraged another ‘retreat from real life’ … and on-line activities are continuing to save the day. Clearly, a hybrid approach to events is here to stay.

Now for my personalised list of thanks ­and praise for 2022.

Competitions

In March, I was thrilled to hear that I had won first place in the Dreich ‘Black Box’ competition, for which many thanks to Jack Caradoc of Dreich, and congratulations to all the commended and shortlisted poets. My prize arrived speedily and safely: a huge box of Dreich publications, and a book bag and pen, all in a splendid Black Box decked out with a super white bow. The icing on the cake was the ‘Black Box’ anthology of the winning and shortlisted poems, including my poem ‘Flight Recorder’. Black Box Anthology.

My next competition success was not a poetry prize, as such, but thanks to Intrigue and Mosaic in Stroud for the lovely fedora I won in a competition run by the shop. It might not have been a poem that won it for me, but it was carefully chosen, artfully arranged words! I’ll be wearing the hat to poetry gigs when I have the opportunity! Thanks to the lovely person in the shop who helped me to decide which colour to choose, and who took the in-store photo.  And thank you to my friend Sheila Macintyre who not only tipped me off about the competition but met me in Stroud in June for a super catch-up over lunch, after I’d picked up the prize.

Poems Published: in Anthologies, Magazines and On-line

My poem ‘Keyboard Warrior’ made it into the ‘At the Edge of all Storms’ anthology from Dreich in July. I loved the striking cover. Thanks again to Jack Caradoc, and to Cara L McKee. The anthology can be ordered here: At the Edge of all Storms

Five of my poems were published on-line in the ‘Lothlorien Poetry Journal’ in April. They can be read here Lothlorien Poetry Journal. A big thank you to editor Strider Marcus Jones, and thank you, especially, for the overwhelmingly positive words from in his confirming email. Such an enthusiastic and appreciative message from an editor is heartening and gladdening! Unusually for me, the poems all had a fantasy/sci-fi flavour: ‘Receiver’, ‘Reverie’, ‘In Transit’, ‘Visitations’ and ‘Managed Invasion’. Another thank you to Strider for including my work in Vol 11 of the Lothlorien Poetry Journal – ‘Windmills of the Mind’ – a beautiful book, with poems by many poets I admire, published in August, and available to purchase here: Lothlorien Poetry Journal Volume 11

Thanks to Robert Garnham for including my poem ‘Lent in a Time of Coronavirus’ on the ‘Spilling Cocoa Over Martin Amis’ website in April … a super platform for poetry that dares to be humorous, even in plague-ridden times! My poem can be read here: Spilling Cocoa

On a related (pandemic) theme, thanks to Ben Banyard in May 2022 for publishing my poem ‘Dawn Chorus, May 2020’ on-line in ‘Black Nore Review’. Read it here: Black Nore Review 

Thanks to Stewart Watkins for publishing another five Covid-related poems of mine in his ‘Pandemic Poets’ anthology in August. It’s full of powerful responses to the pandemic, and available to purchase here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B7QJPMR8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i3

In October, I was pleased to find that I had a couple of clerihews in the second volume from Smokestack Books ‘More Bloody Clerihews’ – thanks to Andy Jackson and George Szirtes.  This has now joined Volume 1, ‘The Call of the Clerihew’ (2019) on my bookshelf (where a handful of mine previously found a home). The latest volume is available to purchase here: More Bloody Clerihews

Thanks, again to Andy Jackson, for publishing my offering entitled ‘Tolstoy’ for week 2 of his Double Dactyl website Double Dactyl of the Week on 24 October.  I love this form, and will be writing more.

Many, many thanks to Gill Connors and Rebecca Jane Bilkau of Dragon Yaffle for including my poem ‘Elementary Inventory’ in the anthology ‘Up the Duff’ published in November.  I am very grateful for the inclusion of this poem which is a particularly important one for me personally. Thank you both for all your hard work on the publication of this book, and congratulations to all the other contributing poets.

As a photographer, I find that many of my poems originate from a visual stimulus, so I’m always very happy to have a visual prompt every month from Visual Verse … and happier still when one of my poems is selected for the website, along with those of many poetry friends, including Angi Holden and Finola Scott to name just two. Thanks to Visual Verse for providing these stimulating challenges every month and thanks to the editors for including the following poems of mine on the website during 2022:

‘You will go down to the sea again’ January 2022 You-will-go-down-to-the-sea-again/

‘Down the Tubes’ June 2022 down-the-tubes/

‘First Class Mail’ November 2022 first-class-mail

Another of my poems ‘An Egyptologist’s Funeral Plan’ is scheduled for publication in the forthcoming ‘Gods and Monsters’ edition of ‘Here Comes Everyone Gods and Monsters issue’

Translation

I am always delighted when I manage to merge my love of Wales and Cymraeg with my love of poetry. An opportunity came as a result of being contacted in 2021 by Nicky and Elin of Ennyn, a community-centred, arts-based company based in Ceredigion, delivering bilingual educational workshops in schools and other communities. They commissioned singer Owen Shiers to sing the poem ‘Y Border Bach’ by William Williams (Crwys) and I had previously translated the same poem which Ennyn tracked down to my website: another-crwys-poem-translated. In 2022 my translation appeared on the Ennyn website for their Dolau Dyfi project, alongside a beautiful recording of Owen Shiers singing the song yn Gymraeg, and lovely photos of the singer! https://www.ennyncymru.com/owenshiersdolaudyfi

Of all the things I do in poetry, this has to be high on the list of things I’m most proud of being involved with, not least because Ennyn is based in Ceredigion, very much the land of my forefathers.

Reading at Events

Thanks to Veronica Aaronson for not only including a couple of my poems in the ‘Despite Knowing’ anthology in 2021, but for including me in the readers for the associated event at Teignmouth Poetry’s Mini Festival in May 2022. I have huge appreciation for Veronica’s vision for the anthology, and her hard work in curating and editing the poems and seeing the project through to publication. It was good to meet Veronica at the event and also to connect with other readers and participating poets at the festival, including Rosie Jackson and Hélène Demetriades (an opportunity for me to buy signed copies of their books!)  It was also good to catch up with other poet friends, particularly Simon Williams, Tom Sastray, Rachael Clyne and Hannah Linden.  I was honoured to read the poem ‘One Day Clean, and Counting’ by Hannah Stone during the festival, and my own poem ‘At the Apple Orchard Clinic for Eating Disorders’.  Much appreciation to all the poets and organizers of this lovely festival. Poetry Teignmouth Festival 2022

Thanks to Sarah L Dixon for her hard work on the Quiet Compere tour, 2022.  Her planning began early and was thorough and well-detailed; I learnt as early as February that I would be included later in the year, on one of the virtual sessions … and this came to fruition in August when I took part in one of the Zoom editions of the Quiet Compere. quiet-compere-stop-6-zoom

Much appreciation to Sarah for her multi-venue, in-real-life and virtual tour, throughout a demanding year, including a new full-time job … and being a fantastic Mum to Frank.

Collaborations: Running Workshops, Editing and Publishing

My long-standing association with Cheltenham Poetry Society sprung to life again, after a two-year pandemic hiatus, with the Awayday in May – day-long writing retreat at Dumbleton Hall. This was the eighth CPS Awayday, which had been annual event pre-pandemic. As always, I enjoyed working with CPS Chairman, Roger Turner, on the design and content of the day’s workshops on the theme of ‘The Elements’. The material included projected images, sound recordings and the text of poems by a variety of poets including Simon Armitage, Sylvia Plath, Philip Gross, Nigel McLoughlin, Rebecca Gethin and Holly Bars. We are delighted to have received 100% satisfied feedback from the attending poets after the Awayday, confirming that the workshops had helped with their writing and that they would like to do something similar in 2023.  We must thank staff at Dumbleton Hall for another memorable Awayday, particularly Emily, the events coordinator. Dumbleton Hall

Over the summer, Roger and I co-selected and edited poems submitted by the Awayday poets, for inclusion in an anthology of poems and photographs on themes of earth, air, fire and water. ‘The Elements’ was published in November, as a joint Cheltenham Poetry Society and Gloucestershire Stanza venture, by my outfit, Eithon Bridge Publications. Thanks go to all of the poets attending the Awayday and submitting excellent poems for the anthology: Robin Gilbert, Iris Anne Lewis, Penny Howarth, Christine Griffin, Belinda Rimmer, Gill Garrett, Annie Ellis, Sheila Spence, Penny Lamport, Catherine Baker, Gill Wyatt, Alice Ross, David Ashbee, Michael Newman, Stuart Nunn, and of course Roger. Particular thanks go also to Kevin Woodward of Wheatley Printers Wheatley Printers in Stroud, Gloucestershire, who patiently worked with Roger and me through the process of setting the text, positioning photographs, finalising the cover design, and then the printing and finishing of the book. We were delighted with the resulting volume of 59 poems by 17 poets, and over 30 photographs. Thanks are also due to David Clarke and Rona Laycock who were generous in their words of endorsement for the cover, and additional words to help us publicise the book which can be purchased through Eithon Bridge Publications: Eithon Bridge The Elements.  Below are some photos of the poets with their copies.

Attending Workshops

It was also good to reconvene during the second half of the year for monthly meetings of the CPS Writing Group. Thanks to chairman Roger Turner’s securing of a new venue, and thanks to all the Writing Group members for their helpful critiques and fine poems: Roger Turner, Michael Newman, David Ashbee, Stuart Nunn, Robin Gilbert, Sheila Spence and Gill Wyatt.

Later in the year, I was pleased to join a new fortnightly face-to-face group, Cleeve Poetry Writing Club, led by Claire Thelwell.  Many thanks to her for her enthusiasm and commitment, and also especial thanks to Will Williams of The Cleeve Bookshop for allowing us to meet in his wonderful bookshop after hours.  It’s the perfect venue, and a lovely group of poets.  Thanks too to Jo Bell … again … since we are drawing on her book ‘52: Write a Poem a Week. Start Now. Keep Going’ (Nine Arches, 2015). I think this is the fourth time I have been drawn back to 52, after its ground-breaking initial run by Jo back in 2014.  It is a timeless source of inspiration, available from the publisher: 52 at Nine Arches

In 2021 I began attending Mark Connors’ and Gill Lambert’s (now Connors!) Wednesday Wordship sessions on Zoom … and these continued through 2022. A previous blog post records my gratitude to them for all the good things that I have experienced personally from this dynamic poetry duo.  Thanks to Yaffle

Assisting in a Competition

Not only did my ‘oeuvre’ grow by some twenty poems during the Wednesday WordshIp workshops, but I was honoured to be asked by Mark and Gill to offer my opinion on the short-listed poems in the 2022 Yaffle Competition, and to put them in order of the Top Ten, as I saw them. There was such a high standard that it was a challenge putting the ten poems in order of perceived merit. Having done so, I was delighted to learn subsequently that my recommendations aligned very closely with Mark’s and Gill’s own assessment – particularly in identifying the winning and commended poems. I was delighted that Mark and Gill used some of my comments on the poems in announcing the results. Yaffle Competition Results Congratulations to all the long-listed, short-listed, commended and highly commended poets and especially to winners Sue Burge (first), Ian Harker (second) and Holly Bars (third). And am pleased that one of my own Wednesday Wordship poems ‘You Knit’ will be included on an ‘honorary’ basis  in the Whirlagust III prizewinners anthology. Thanks again to Mark and Gill Connors for an excellent poetry year.

Reviews, Written and Received

Another result of the collaboration with Mark and Gill was that I was asked by fellow Wordshipper, Holly Bars, to review, and write a cover endorsement for her debut collection ‘Dirty’ from Yaffle Press, launched in November and on sale here: Dirty It was a privilege to get to know Holly through Mark and Gill’s Wednesday Wordship sessions on Zoom in 2021/22, and an honour to be asked to write a response to her astonishing debut collection. Holly is definitely a poet to watch.

In August I was delighted to receive a 5 Star review on Amazon for my collection ‘Dualities’ (Hedgehog Press 2020):  ‘Skilful poetry, a delightful collection of accomplished writing.’  Thanks to Ozymandias!

Finally, a big thank you to South Poetry Magazine South Magazine and especially Anne Peterson for the positive review of the ‘Inspired by Music’ anthology of poems and photographs edited by Roger Turner and me, and published on behalf of Cheltenham Poetry Society by Eithon Bridge Publications in November 2021. The review appeared in issue 66 of South Magazine in October 2022. The idea for an anthology inspired by music came from a desire for a project, for CPS poets, during the hiatus between the 2019 and 2022 Awayday writing retreats. The positive review for this anthology was most welcome! ‘Inspired by Music’ can be purchased through Eithon Bridge Publications: Eithon Bridge anthologies

Looking Forward

Overall, 2022 felt like a year of slowly getting back to something approaching ‘normal’ … whatever ‘normal’ is nowadays, but I hope 2023 will begin to feel like a leap forward, a change of gear, an acceleration towards goals still unfulfilled!

A happy, productive and successful 2023 to all poets, everywhere … and good health and prosperity to all people, wherever they happen to be.

Y Border Bach – Another Crwys Poem Translated

 

A few years ago, I was approached by fellow poet Chris Hemingway about a poem by William Williams Crwys  that he had found on an information board at a ruined mill at Trefin in Pembrokeshire,  I translated the poem here  and several interesting spin-offs happened subsequently, including my trip to Trefin, visit to the mill and chapel, having my translation of Melin Trefin included in a tapestry at the chapel and a magazine, and being contacted by a descendant of Crwys, resident in the southern hemisphere, and consequently locating out-of-print books containing further poems by this well-loved Welsh poet.

It’s funny how these out-of-the-blue events develop a life of their own, and all seem to connect up in some mysterious way.

A few days ago, in early August  2020, I was contacted by someone whose father, soon to be celebrating his 90 birthday, has an interest in another poem by Crwys – Y Border Bach.  I quickly located the text … and not so quickly … attempted a translation.

As with all translations of poetry, a literal rendition of the original language sacrifices the poetic language of the original. Rhymes, assonance, alliteration and …. in translating Welsh specifically, cynghanedd … are inevitably lost. However, if one strives towards preserving these elements in any translation, liberties have to be taken with the meaning, and the poet’s apparent intent. Compromise is therefore necessary.

I have made some decisions which stray a little from a literal translation in order to achieve a ‘feel’ for the original intent, as I perceive it. I believe Crwys wished the simplicity of the modest flower border in this poem to ‘stand for’ Wales, and Mam – the central figure, and ‘planter of the plant’ in any Welsh home – along with her neighbours, to represent the people of Wales.  ‘Plant’ is the Welsh word for ‘children’.

With such a reading, it is possible to infer something about the showier blooms in the mansion gardens, and their ‘pedigrees’, as well as seeing the dandelion colonising the garden – as an upstart interloper.

As Crwys was a minister of religion as well as a poet – or rather a bard and an eisteddfodwr – other assumptions can be made.  Particularly, the Old Man referred to in the poem, as well as being the common name for a specific garden plant, is more than likely a reference to God … especially as this ‘Sage’ is seen as standing over and caring for the other ‘plants’ in the border  … ie the people of Cymru, and the speakers of the Iaith y Nefoedd (the ‘language of Heaven’).

As a lover of simple wild flowers rather than brightly coloured, highly bred garden flowers, I can relate to this poem. My Welsh father was of similar mind … “y pethau bychain” … the little things … were important to him, as was his garden, and always a preference for the unpretentious.

Here is the poem, followed by the translation. While I have learnt Welsh to an advanced level as an adult, I am, naturally and in all humility as a non-native speaker of Cymraeg, open to correction,  So if Welsh is your mamiaith, please do comment in kindly manner if you detect error in my translation, or misinterpretation of the sense and intent of the poet.  Thank you.

 

Y Border Bach

 

Gydag ymyl troetffordd gul
A rannai’r ardd yn ddwy,
‘Roedd gan fy mam ei border bach
O flodau perta’r plwy.

Gwreiddyn bach gan hwn a hon
Yn awr ac yn y man,
Fel yna’n ddigon syml y daeth
Yr Eden fach i’w rhan.

A, rywfodd, byddai lwc bob tro,
Ni wn i ddim paham,
Ond taerai ‘nhad na fethodd dim
A blannodd llaw fy mam.

Blodau syml pobol dlawd
Oeddynt, bron bob un,
A’r llysiau gwyrthiol berchid am
Eu lles yn fwy na’u llun.

Dacw nhw: y lili fach,
Mint a theim a mwsg,
Y safri fach a’r lafant pêr,
A llwyn o focs ynghwsg;

Dwy neu dair brlallen ffel,
A daffodil, bid siŵr,
A’r cyfan yn y border bach
Yng ngofal rhyw ‘hen ŵr’.

Dyna nhw’r gwerinaidd lu,
Heb un yn gwadu’i ach,
A gwelais wenyn gerddi’r plas
Ym mlodau’r border bach.

O bellter byd ‘rwy’n dod o hyd
I’w gweld dan haul a gwlith,
A briw i’m bron fu cael pwy ddydd
Heb gennad yn eu plith.

Hen estron gwyllt o ‘ddant y llew’,
A dirmyg lond ei wên.
Sut gwyddai’r hen doseddwr hy
Fod Mam yn mynd yn hen?

               gan William Williams Crwys

 

Translation:

The Small Border

 

Along the edge of a narrow path
that divided the garden in two
my mother had her little border,­
the prettiest flowers of the parish.

A little root of this and that,
here and there, now and again
and, in this way, a little Eden
came quite simply into being

somehow, by chance, every time.
I don’t know how, but Dad always
swore that nothing ever failed
when planted by the hand of Mam.

Yes, almost all the plants were
simple flowers of poor people
and miraculous vegetables, notable
for goodness rather than appearance.

Among them were snowdrops,
mint and thyme and moschatel,
winter savory, sweet lavender,
and a vigorous bush of box.

Two or three primroses
and daffodils were sure to be
– all the plants of the small border
in the care of some ‘old man’.

They were a host of common folk.
None of them in that small border
could claim the pedigrees of those
blooming in the mansion’s gardens.

With a stab to the chest one day,
I came across an old alien, wild,
without precedent in the border –
a dandelion blown in from a distance,

smiling an insolent smile
in sun and dew, and­ I wondered
how that old coloniser knew
that Mam was growing old.

Notes:

  • Moschatel is Adoxa moschatellina, also known as muskroot or townhall clock.
  • Old man is a common name for Artemisia abrotanum, also known as sagewood.

    ………….
    Translated from the Welsh by Sharon Larkin, 3-5 August 2020

 

Melin Trefin … centenary

… The stone at rest that watches the place
in the thrashing rain and the wind

Two years ago, I wrote about the poet William Williams Crwys, and his much-loved poem Melin Trefin.  See my original article Trefin Mill which was prompted by the visit of fellow poet Chris Hemingway to Trefin in 2016. This May, I had the pleasure of visiting the Pembrokeshire village of Trefin myself … and the mill that inspired the reverend-bard-archdruid Crwys to write the poem … in 1918.  It seemed an even more meaningful occasion, therefore, in this the 100th anniversary year of the poem.

Here is a photographic record of my visit, with excerpts from the poem in Cymraeg, together with my translation:

Nid yw’r Felin heno’n malu
Yn Nhrefin ym min y môr,
Trodd y merlyn olaf adref
Dan ei bwn o drothwy’r ddôr,
Ac mae’r rhod fu gynt yn chwyrnu
Ac yn rhygnu drwy y fro,
Er pan farw’r hen felinydd
Wedi rhoi ei holaf dro.

The mill is not grinding tonight
in Trefin at the edge of the sea.
The last pony, from beneath its burden,
turned from the threshold towards home
and the wheel that used to rumble
and grumble through the area
has, since the old miller died,
made its last turn.

IMG_6104

IMG_6157
Trefin Mill on the North Pembrokeshire Coast

 

IMG_6159

IMG_6141
‘The mill is not grinding tonight’

IMG_6127

IMG_6122
‘at Trefin at the edge of the sea’.

IMG_6114
‘The kindly stream still runs on’

IMG_6113
‘… past the bare forehead of the house’

IMG_6112
May was the perfect month to visit – with sea pinks (thrift), stonecrop, bladder campion, bird’s foot trefoil and kidney vetch, as well as red campion, bluebells and cow parsley adorning the glorious banks and verges of Pembrokeshire

 

IMG_6115

Rhed y ffrwd garedig eto
Gyda thalcen noeth y ty,
Ond ddaw ned i’r fal ai farlys,
A’r hen olwyn fawr ni thry,
Lle doi gwenith gwyn Llanrhiain
Derfyn haf yn llwythi cras,
Ni cheir mwy on tres o wymon
Gydag ambell frwynen las.

The kindly stream still runs on
past the bare forehead of the house
but it no longer comes to mill the barley
and the big old wheel won’t turn again.
Where the wheat of Llanrhiain
lay at summer’s end
now there’s only a trace of seaweed
and a few green reeds.

 

 

IMG_6098
‘Where the wheat of Llanrhiain
lay at summer’s end’

Looking towards the fields of neighbouring Llanrhian parish, from the village of Trefin. Cereal crops grown in the fields will have been harvested and carted from there to Trefin for grinding into flour.  IMG_6097

Segur faen sy’n gwylio’r fangre
Yn y curlaw mawr a’r gwynt,
Di-lythyren garreg goffa
O’r amseroedd difyr gynt,
Ond’ does yma neb yn malu,
Namyn amser swrth a’r hin
Wrthi’n chwalu ac yn malu,
Malu’r felin yn Nhrefin.

The stone at rest that watches the place
in the thrashing rain and the wind
is a letterless memorial
to the jollity of former times.
Nobody is milling here now.
It is a time of dereliction
– the grinding down
of the mill at Trefin.

IMG_6103
Entering the village of Trefin

IMG_6088
Middle section of the tapestry commemorating the famous poem, curated by Val Dubbens and displayed in the chapel for its 175th anniversary (1843 – 2018)

IMG_6084
Inside the Chapel at Trefin, recently restored

IMG_6095
The chapel at Trefin stands on Druid’s Hill, probably named after William Williams Crwys – minister, bard and archdruid (who, thirty years after writing this poem, inducted Princess Elizabeth into the Gorsedd of Bards at the General Eisteddfod held Bridgend in 1948  … well before her coronation as Queen).

 

 

 

IMG_6100
Capel Trefin

IMG_6085

IMG_6087
The whole of the fine tapestry, featuring the chapel, mill and lines from the poem. The tapestry was curated by Val Dubbens.

IMG_6160
Roadsign next to the chapel, commemorating William Williams Crwys

IMG_6083
Sign outside the chapel

IMG_6138
A stanza from the poem, on information board on the outer wall of the ruined mill

IMG_6140
Illustration from the information board

IMG_6136
English translation from information board

IMG_6135
Information board on the outer wall of the mill

IMG_6137
Gwybodaeth am y felin – yn Gymraeg

                                                                                                                                        

 

Review of 2016 – mentor, monitor, mantra

It has been a year of mountain climbing and a little valley exploring.  High peaks have included:

Taking over the chair of Cheltenham Arts Council from Karen Jones – a hard act to follow. But there is a  lovely, dedicated committee of people from across the wide spectrum of the arts in Cheltenham to keep me on track. I’m learning so much – thanks to these mentors – and ‘network like an over-excited millennial’ has quickly become my mantra in this new ‘job’.

Working with Roger Turner to establish Poetry Café – Refreshed at Smokey Joe’s, Cheltenham has been an ongoing pleasure. I have loved welcoming all the guest poets and open mic performers – from Glos, South Glos, Worcs, Somerset, Oxon, Berks, Herefords, Wilts, Avon and Dorset! ‘Refreshed’ has become known for its friendly, relaxed, welcoming atmosphere, and – of course – its exciting poetry. Monitoring the rise and rise of this monthly event has been a source of considerable satisfaction.  With thanks to Smokey Joe’s for such a great venue – and a menu that is definitely worth monitoring at regular intervals!

Publishing Cheltenham 300, the Cheltenham Poetry Society’s anthology of poems and photographs to mark the Tercentenary of the town as a spa, offered a rich learning experience for me personally. It all sprang from an inspiring Awayday idea, very image-focused from the start … and so it was inevitable that the ensuing book would combine two passions shared by a number of CPS members  – poetry and photography. The richness of this particular learning experience came from choosing poems from those submitted, collaborating with Roger Turner (trusted mentor) on editing, sequencing and taking/selecting images. Investigating sources for some of the images and pursuing copyright permissions were other opportunities to ‘learn stuff’ … as were working with the printer to optimise layout, with a couple of ‘back to the drawing board’ moments!  Chris Griffiths at Stroudprint has been a most patient mentor!  His experience and advice were invaluable. The book was published in November, and according to my monitoring – akin to that of a new parent – it is selling well, at the Suffolk Anthology Bookshop, thanks to Helene. Many copies are also being sold  by the contributing poets, and by mail order (via email  cheltenhampoetrysociety@gmail.com). We have two events/readings coming up early in 2017, when my mantra will no doubt be:  ‘the book will be on sale at the end of the reading’.

An enjoyable morning was spent in early December with Rona Laycock – accomplished writer and experienced mentor – in The Writer’s Room at Corinium Radio, Cirencester. I loved sharing four of my poems from the ‘I Walk on Fire’ event (held in Cheltenham in October – to celebrate Dylan Thomas) … so my Corinium Radio spot had a Welsh flavour, satisfying another of my passions. Monitoring the programme as it went out – worldwide – was a ‘hold your breath’ moment … but I didn’t actually hate the sound of my own voice … because I thought it sounded like someone else! Another mantra:  it’s never too late to try something new.

Nor is it ever too late to have another go at something done previously.   A few years ago I participated in judging the poetry entries for the Gloucestershire Writers Network competition – the first time I’d judged one.  Earlier this year, Stuart Nunn asked me to judge the poetry entries for the Chipping Sodbury competition.  This was an enjoyable experience, with some obvious front runners during preliminary readings.  It took several more readings to place them in order.  The winner took me by surprise.  As I read and reread it, I began to realise that there were rich literary threads and social commentary running right through it. They had not been obvious on a preliminary reading, but an outstanding image towards the end of the poem alerted me to the fact that something deeper was going on in this poem than was at first apparent.  I appreciated the fact that this poet didn’t go for an easy option. The poem offered the reader the satisfaction of teasing out the meaning just beneath the superficial. A worthy winner.  And another lesson learned in the satisfaction and rewards of inviting a reader to ‘go deeper’ … another mantra.

Submissions-wise, it has been my most productive year ever, with a record number of acceptances and few rejections – according to fastidious monitoring via Excel spreadsheet. Much of this success can be traced back to the 52 Project in 2014.  Surely Jo Bell remains all participating poets’ favourite mentor! Her mantra – cut the last two lines – remains valuable advice.

But the ‘mentor of the year award, 2016’ for me personally has to be Ann Drysdale.  I can’t thank her enough for her experience, wisdom and patience as we’ve worked on my manuscript.

Glancing ahead to 2017, I look forward to more learning experiences – with a Cinnamon Press residential led by Jan Fortune – another brilliant mentor and champion of new writing.  This opportunity to learn will take place early in the New Year (back to Wales again – excellent!). I’ll also be beginning another stint in the Chair of Cheltenham Poetry Society next year, with a new series of workshops running throughout 2017 based on Jo Bell’s 52 book. As a new venture for the Society, I’ll be monitoring the success of the workshops, and learning much by mentoring some of those who attend. If there’s one thing my year teaching Welsh to Adult beginners taught me, it is that tutors learn as much by teaching learners as learners learn from tutors! My all-time favourite mantra remains “Never stop learning” …

At the head of this end-of-year resumé, is a word cloud containing elements from the titles of the poems I hope to see ‘out there’ in 2017.  I’ll be monitoring their progress with the utmost interest!  “Go, words!”

Trefin Mill – William Williams Crwys

I was recently prompted by musician and fellow-poet, Chris Hemingway, to find the text of a poem in Cymraeg by William Williams (1875 – 1968), bardic name Crwys, and to translate it into English. William Williams Crwys

Chris had become aware of the existence of the poem – Melin Trefin – on his visit to Trefin – roughly half way between St Davids and Fishguard on the north Pembrokeshire Coast.  He asked Facebook friends if anyone knew of a translation. That was all the prompting I needed. Trefin Mill

To my shame, I didn’t know the poem itself although I was acquainted with the name William Williams Crwys – an Archdruid (chief bard of the Gorsedd of Bards) and three-times winner of The Crown at the National Eisteddfod. One of the greats. Here is a picture of HM The Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) and Crwys at the National Eisteddfod at Aberpennar (Mountain Ash) on 6 August 1947 Princess Elizabeth and Archdruid William Williams Crwys.

In fact, the poem is well loved by Cymry Cymraeg … and came 21st in a BBC Wales online poll of Welsh-speakers’ favourite poems in 2003.   I soon tracked the text down:

Melin Trefin

Nid yw’r Felin heno’n malu
Yn Nhrefin ym min y môr,
Trodd y merlyn olaf adref
Dan ei bwn o drothwy’r ddôr,
Ac mae’r rhod fu gynt yn chwyrnu
Ac yn rhygnu drwy y fro,
Er pan farw’r hen felinydd
Wedi rhoi ei holaf dro.

Rhed y ffrwd garedig eto
Gyda thalcen noeth y ty,
Ond ddaw ned i’r fal ai farlys,
A’r hen olwyn fawr ni thry,
Lle doi gwenith gwyn Llanrhiain
Derfyn haf yn llwythi cras,
Ni cheir mwy on tres o wymon
Gydag ambell frwynen las.

Segur faen sy’n gwylio’r fangre
Yn y curlaw mawr a’r gwynt,
Di-lythyren garreg goffa
O’r amseroedd difyr gynt,
Ond’ does yma neb yn malu,
Namyn amser swrth a’r hin
Wrthi’n chwalu ac yn malu,
Malu’r felin yn Nhrefin.

Here is my translation – aiming more to be faithful to the Cymraeg than to be a poetic rendering:

Trefin Mill

The mill is not grinding tonight
in Trefin at the edge of the sea.
The last pony, from beneath its burden,
turned from the threshold towards home
and the wheel that used to rumble
and grumble through the area
has, since the old miller died,
made its last turn.

The kindly stream still runs on
past the bare forehead of the house
but it no longer comes to mill the barley
and the big old wheel won’t turn again.
Where the wheat of Llanrhiain
lay at summer’s end
now there’s only a trace of seaweed
and a few green reeds.

The stone at rest that watches the place
in the thrashing rain and the wind
is a letterless memorial
to the jollity of former times.
Nobody is milling here now.
It is a time of dereliction
– the grinding down
of the mill at Trefin.

Notes:

It’s virtually impossible to render the musicality of the Welsh, with all the alliteration and rhyme … the cynghanedd or chiming harmonies for which poetry in Cymraeg is justly famous.

The phrase “mynd am dro” – literally to go for a turn, is the common idiomatic way of saying “to go for a walk”. So the Welsh for a wheel turning for the last time carries in it the idea of the miller making his last turn too ie going for his last walk, or even giving his last performance (as we call an act on stage a “turn”).

Thus the mill and the miller are one unit, and hence their fate is linked, and hence the mill personifies the miller. So, when the miller does his final “turn” so does the millwheel – and so does the pony that turns the grindstone. Pony and man slough off their “burden” and “go home”.

The millstream that powered the wheel is also personified. It is “kindly” – suggesting the miller was too. (I hesitated to use the word “grumbled” in association with the sound of the turning millwheel, because it was clearly out of character with the miller, but the Welsh has two chiming, onomatopoeic words and I needed something similar to accompany “rumbled”).

While the “kindly stream” no longer visits the mill (the millrace presumably dries up), the (main) stream still passes the “bare forehead” of the (mill)house … again allying building to miller and vice versa.

In the final stanza, there is a feeling that the mill begins to tumble down, on the death of the miller – to fall into ruin even as the miller’s remains are consigned to the earth. Grain is no longer being ground down; body and building are being broken down now.

The millstone bears no inscription but acts as a gravestone for mill and miller, exposed to the elements – the wind and the thrashing rain). As a translator, I was pleased to come up with a word to describe the rain beating down that sounds so much like “threshing”.

Alas, the closest I can come to emulating the cynghanedd is in the proximity of “letterless” and “jollity” with their repeated t and l sounds. Saying those two words with a lilting Welsh accent that gives a long stress to the first syllable, provides some impression of the satisfying effect a poet can achieve with the cynghanedd.

I found the exercise very enjoyable. Thanks Chris!