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Winston Plowes

Updated: Sat, 2 Apr 2016 06:50 pm

winstonplowes@googlemail.com

www.winstonplowes.co.uk

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Biography

Based near Hebden Bridge in Calderdale Winston Plowes lives aboard his floating home with his cat ‘Fatty’. In the past year he has collaborated with The Arvon Foundation, the BBC, Glastonbury Festival, UCLAN and Manchester Museum and has recently tutored on courses and workshops for The Square Chapel, The Princes Trust and West Yorkshire Playhouse. As Poet in Residence for the Rochdale Canal Festival in 2012 and The Hebden Bridge Arts Festival for the past three years he has being lucky enough to share his community orientated poetry with a wider audience. As Judge for the Found Poetry Review and author of experimental work published in over 50 journals worldwide he gets the chance to play with our precious language and by providing workshops for schools hopes to continue to inspire through mutual creativity for many years to come. The jointly self published Misery Begins at Home, 2010 and Micro Chap-book Extras, Origami Press, 2014 was followed this year by Telephones, Love Hearts & Jellyfish, Electric Press 2016 Winston is also inventor of the worlds first (and possibly last) Random Poetry Generating Bicycle, the ‘Spoke-n-Word’. www.winstonplowes.co.uk To have a chat about workshops or readings please ring 07986 222678 -------------------------------------------------- PUBLISHED IN Turbulence Magazine / The Best of Manchester Poets / The Big Issue / Words Undone / Chuneedha / Mental Virus / In The Red / The Leeds Debacle / The Ghazal Page / Rainy City Stories / Poetry Space / The Fibonacci Review / Streetcake / LYNX / Verbatim / Monkey Kettle / The Delinquent / Incandescent / Shetland Libraries / Four and Twenty / Ink Sweat and Tears / The Shot Glass Journal / Dog Ear / Jammatology / Hebden Bridge Arts Festival / Rochdale Canal Festival / Hebden Bridge Times / The Black Hole Poetry Anthology / Google Poetics / The Found Poetry Review / Arriveé Magazine / Bad Robot / Tadeeb International / Splinterswerve / experimental-experimental-literature / Sein und Werd / Muse India / Kind of a Hurricane Press / The Gambler / Right Hand Pointing / Postcards, Poetry and Prose / Luciferous / The New Verse News / The Word Machine / The Yorkshire Times / Silver Birch Press / Nonbinary Review / OF ZOOS / JAB Magazine / Zoomoozophone / Your Phone Call / Cahoodaloodaling / The Rain, Party & Disaster Society / VoiceIn / Red Wedge /Commonword / Dreamscape Press / Boktor Magazine / *82 Review / Text Magazine -------------------------------------------------- THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ

Samples

SEGMENTS He came from the age of traction engines, Boy’s Own pages, plain speaking, Yorkshire rigidity and thrift. Since before the war his Condor chug rubbed the room sepia. Rubbed his throat too till Cookridge called and gave him ten years grace. Rubbed his lad till his lungs phlegmed, as the last pick on PE’s ID parade. Hypnotised the cat rolling oranges under tartan slippers’ soles. To the knitting needle clack of mum’s backing track. “Separates pith from t’skin”. He’d say before the last horse croak from a voice lost to the ready-rubbed and half ounce flake. And in these silent years he smiled a lot to compensate and raised a friendly palm to any bus that would stop… That’s Harry in the corner. -------------------------------------------------- M62, J22 You could cut the air with a paper knife And re-open the wounding word. Restrained in a windowed envelope still dying to be heard. Deja vu on the M62, as we passed we didn’t know. That Britain’s highest motorway could make us feel so low. With only hard shoulders to cry on in this day of contra flow tears. As the two of us crossed over Yorkshire both red and white roses appeared. Fog lights reflected our faltering start and the road noise was unrelenting. Constantly more than two chevrons apart… You were never the one for repenting. -------------------------------------------------- HOME SPUN One blue day, you may be blown to an island whose edges were cut by pinking shears. A jigsaw piece adrift on a puzzle of the world. One blue day, you may collide with its people, and blush with wind burnt cheeks. Alive with the life of your fathers buried with their swords. One blue day, you may watch the sun fall in the sea And beg of me one extra wish. That you could breathe underwater and follow it below. One blue day you may come home Christopher – Come home to your Hjaltland -------------------------------------------------- 75 NIGHTS OF BOMBS Searchlights scissor sky. Sirens herd us down the tube. Drowning under bricks… -------------------------------------------------- GHAZAL No love lost around your letters History tightly bound your letters Thistle heads disguised as roses Friendly faces frowned, your letters Dark words piled in a dark corner A forgotten mound, your letters Like the dying amaryllis In my tears, I drowned your letters Echoes rest in empty places A faint distant sound, your letters Inside the drawer without the key Prying fingers found your letters Bitter fruit grows in barren soil Buried underground, your letters Her ship will never dock Winston Words have run aground, your letters All above © Winston Plowes

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.

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Comments

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Tommy Carroll

Mon 2nd Dec 2019 20:15

"Well"
winston plowes

Fri 1st Jan 2010 22:04

Cheers Win.
Tommy

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Tommy Carroll

Wed 20th Sep 2017 00:06

Mon 30th Apr 2012 11:48


Cheers Win- I had struggled with the 4th myself and at 3am called it a night. Thanks for the comments and advice. Tommy

PS sorry for the delay xxx tc

Frances Macaulay Forde

Thu 26th Jan 2017 03:10

For me, the most visually powerful poem amongst many was '75 Nights of Bombs'. I'm busy writing about my Pathfinder dad and WRAF mum...
Also loved SEGMENTS, particularly:

Hypnotised the cat rolling oranges
under tartan slippers’ soles.
To the knitting needle clack
of mum’s backing track.

So, thank you.

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jean lucy thompson

Mon 24th Nov 2014 23:07

yvw Winston yes you do have to take risks otherwise how would we progress :) great work and interesting profile Mines pretty dull haha

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Tommy Carroll

Mon 11th Aug 2014 08:48

Winston- 'Once more unto the breach...' Thanks for the comment you left for 'This time on a sunny day'. Like you, I like a surprise. tommy

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Tommy Carroll

Mon 11th Aug 2014 00:30

Hi Winston ta for your comment on ''Anyone for tennis?'' I could argue that the simpler the dialogue the easier to understand and the more powerful your message will resound: ''Eat less move more'' ;) tommy

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Andy N

Sun 5th Jan 2014 14:40

thanks Winston. glad you liked this. It was just a bit of fun really although most of it is true in particular the bit about diving cats (one of them missed the windowsill the other night and nearly knocked herself out which would have been worrying if it wasn't so funny - lol).

Hope you enjoy the book. It's not one of my high brow books, as I wrote it for Cathy really but she loves it and that means the world to me.

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Dave Bradley

Sat 4th Jan 2014 08:37

Thanks for commenting Winston. It's a long time since you blogged on WOL which is a pity

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Ian Whiteley

Wed 18th Sep 2013 19:11

thanks for your comments on 'she wears pink' Win - glad you liked it - I'm hoping to cover some other aspects of the JFK assassination as we come up to the 50th anniversary - so this one is a forerunner
cheers
Ian

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Antony Owen

Mon 25th Mar 2013 13:06

Cheers Win for the support. Keep those blogs coming I always read em !

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John Coopey

Mon 28th Jan 2013 18:09

Yes, Win. I rather did the over-elaboration in the song just to draw attention to the eye-rhyme between penis and denis.

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John Coopey

Mon 28th Jan 2013 17:55

I see you've been looking at my "Penis, Penis", Win!

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John Coopey

Thu 20th Dec 2012 13:25

Seasons Greetings, Win.
Thanks for your thoughts on my "Red Wheelbarrow".

tony sheridan

Tue 18th Dec 2012 11:31

Hi Winston. Thanks for your comments on Christine. Take care, Tony.

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Ray Miller

Fri 9th Nov 2012 14:46

Thanks for your comment on Backward, Winston.

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John Coopey

Sat 3rd Nov 2012 21:39

Glad you liked "Racist Is...", Win.

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Isobel

Sun 28th Oct 2012 10:19

Glad you likie - my experimental stage didn't last long, did it? :)) x

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Ann Foxglove

Sun 28th Oct 2012 09:49

Yes Win - I stayed at Lumb Bank when I attended the performance poetry course there last year. I didn't get any cake though! A wondeful place though I did find that wooded hill opposite a bit oppressive (no pleasing some people!)

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John Aikman

Wed 24th Oct 2012 18:23

Just shows how attentive I've been recently! : )

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jean lucy thompson

Fri 12th Oct 2012 23:38

Winston :) Thanx for comment

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Laura Taylor

Fri 28th Sep 2012 16:48

Howdy Houston

Now, was that a deliberate use of 'abaddon'?! :D

You reckon? I think cos it got so little attention it got put ont back burner, and I've been ridiculously busy what with one thing and another lately. Have got at least 5 poems drafted but doing bugger all :(

I will try it again soon maybe :) Thanks chuck

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John Coopey

Wed 8th Aug 2012 10:59

Sorry I missed the Canal Towpath idea, Win. I was in France for a month.

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Hazel

Thu 2nd Aug 2012 16:56

Hi Winston thanks fot the comment on my untitled. I sat with the dictionary looking for a meaning of a word nothing to do with writing, but then started to scribble.

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Dave D Poet Rhumour

Thu 2nd Aug 2012 01:06

Hi Winston, thanks for leaving a comment on 'Life's Towpath' - yes I certainly did need a prod! I have had few moments of inspiration recently, so thanks again for stirring me into action. :) Best wishes, Dave.

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Martin Peacock

Tue 19th Jun 2012 12:08

Hi! Re: your comments on my 'Compilation Of Words' - I reckon the best way to do what you suggest [and, being a visual artist too I like the challenge] would be to create something in Photoshop; any image used would not lose definition. Nice idea: I might go for it.

C Byrne

Wed 13th Jun 2012 18:49

Hi Winston,

Do you have any of your Hyena poems online?

Ta

Chris

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John Coopey

Thu 7th Jun 2012 00:46

Many thanks for commenting on several of my poems recently. You must have been at a bit of a loose end!

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M.C. Newberry

Wed 6th Jun 2012 17:16

Hello Win - I found the BBC radio snippet you
mention. How it took me back! Thanks for that. I hope to post a cricket-related poem shortly.
MC

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M.C. Newberry

Sat 2nd Jun 2012 19:48

Hello Win - it seems that sporting poetry is something of a Cinderella interest but some of those written over the years are worth finding. I have a book devoted to the genre - once owned by an elder sister who made a gift of it to me some years ago. Some of the older fox hunting poems would make today's PC advocates writhe in exquisite agony now that the fox is a Disney demi-god in modern sensibilities. The realities of the ravages of a hen-house are easily ignored by the city dweller.
Cheers...MC

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Tommy Carroll

Mon 28th May 2012 00:01

yes Yvonne it is a foto of my living room(no window blinds)
Steve ta you have a way with ...thingies.
Winston-you know your stuff-Tommy

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