Mike Jenkins - Welsh Poet & Author
  • Mike's Blog
  • New Book!
  • About Mike
  • Contact
  • What's the point?
  • The Climbing Tree
  • The Fugitive Three
  • Publications
  • Red Poets

'Journey towards the unknown' : i.m. Nigel Jenkins

1/30/2014

3 Comments

 
PictureMarina Towers Observatory, Swansea















      A week of mourning : two great men of the left and of peace have died, but I'm sure their impact will be lasting.
   One, Pete Seeger, the inspirational American folk-singer and campaigner has rightly had international coverage while the other - a key figure in Welsh literature - was Nigel Jenkins who died aged 64 from cancer.
   Though Nigel's death has hardly had a mention outside his beloved Cymru , I hope this will be rectified in years to come, as his work is fully acknowledged.
   We had so much in common, apart from the surname and the fact that many editors confused
us, so I did have poems taken just because they thought I was him!
   When we  both met the great Scots Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean many years ago I explained to him the difference between us - ' I am the Welsh Socialist Republican and he's the Welsh Republican Socialist!' I elucidated.
   We both played blues harp, though Nigel was much more professional, wearing his harmonica belt around his waist with many keys, while I stuck with the
trusted old E.
   We shared a love of John Cale's music, though Nigel's preceded mine and I recall his very interesting review of Cale's album 'Words For The Dying' in 'Arcade' magazine in the 90s. Only later did I manage to catch up with his comprehensive collection of Cale and, even then, he possessed 'La Naissance d'Amour' , an album I couldn't get hold of and which, according to Malcolm Lewis in 'Planet' (another Caleite) was one of his finest ever.
   Nigel was, like myself, an officianado of  'tidee beer', real ale that is. It's typical of him that one of his poems in 'Poems For A Welsh Republic' (which Red Poets brought out in Jubilee year) condemned Britain as 'a moribund weak beer monarchy'........even if it's less true today, with the proliferation of superb micro-breweries.
   Like him I had my own foray into journalism as pop/ rock correspondent for the early 'Wales On Sunday', a broadsheet he helped fashion with John Osmond. He was far more experienced in this field however and played a key role in the pioneering left nationalist magazine 'Radical Wales'. 
   We even met up at a job interview where we were both candidates (his last post as director of creative writing at Swansea Uni.). When they asked me about journalism I knew I didn't stand a chance but, meeting Nigel as I was leaving, I realised that he did. He went on to do a wonderful job, inspiring so many students.
   He was always an organiser and motivator and I remember him asking me to do a reading at a pub in Salubrious Passage ,off Wind Street 
. It was packed and buzzing and he had the excellent idea of inviting along Writers' Groups to perform their work, whilst also having a guest or two. It was this format that I used as a model for our successful Open Mic. nights in Merthyr, which have been going for over 5 years now.
   I agreed totally with his commitment to a poetry which could take on almost any form or style, from haiku to satire, and from free-form to rhyme.
   Some of his fascinating space poems can be found on the Marina Towers Observatory in Swansea Bay ( photo at the  start of this blog). If you are ever that way, it's so rewarding to go there and soar upwards with his imagination.
   As well as four poems in 'Poems For A Welsh Republic', he had three in the very first issue of what was then 'Red Poets' Society' and these can be read on our website   -    www.RedPoets.org
   We were both 'dysgwyr' and the importance of Cymraeg throughout his work is clear. In 'Hotel Gwales' for example, there are a number of translations from contemporary Welsh language poetry, including his friends Menna Elfyn and Iwan Llwyd. 

   He was a committed man of Swansea, a proud 'Jack', though we never discussed the footie. His views on sport (especially rugby) were quite cynical and he saw the donning of national identity for a day as rather pathetic. It was, to him, part of the shallowness of Welsh identity.
   Unlike myself, he was a party man , though never one to tow the Plaid Cymru line. As he was a local member I was so grateful for the tremendous support he gave to my daughter Bethan ( the AM for his constituency). He totally empathised with her politics and could fully understand the way she had been treated.
 
   He possessed the barbed wit of a Harri Webb, the lyricism of a Dylan and the gentleness of Vernon Watkins.
  
   His poem 'Advice To A Young Poet' is a must for all aspiring writers. It finishes with , ' but a poem's
ending is not its end'.
   The same could be said about a poet like Nigel.


                              TOWARDS   THE  UNKNOWN
                                 er cof am Nigel Jenkins



From the Rhondda we began
a hike towards the unknown.

We didn't grasp it at first,
only the aerial and ancient hill-fort.

We had a map and instructions
which became irrelevant up the steep track :

the footpaths were blown skyward
and landmarks obscured by the fog.

We trudged across the boggy moor
cursing our hearts which raised alarms.

Below was a thick forest of conifers
in orderly lines like Roman legions.

The mine at the valley's head,
black whiplash strokes on green.

We carried on walking into cloud
until even the reason was unseen.

  
 

3 Comments

Feet    Fall    Free

1/27/2014

1 Comment

 
PicturePistyll Goleu , near Llanwynno
















                       


                       
FEET   FALL   FREE
                       for  Jamie  &   Andrew

We set off in pursuit
of Guto Nyth Bran -
not the streets of Aberpennar
and the Nos Galan race
and rain tipping down
like old farmers with sticks -
but a steady walking pace.


The sun popping its head
from out of the mist
now and again, losing
our sense of direction
despite a map, except one
with his third dimension ;
compass in his dizzy head.



Conifers too dark, no lift of wings
and reservoir where all's contained;
warning of a house and dogs loose.
Water running rapidly barefoot
down narrow forest paths :

I hear his feet fall free
at Pistyll Goleu's liquid light.




                         

1 Comment

NEW WELSH MUSIC - CAWL YR IAITH

1/20/2014

1 Comment

 
PictureCawr by Gus Payne / Cover of 'Bach Yn Ryff' Jamie Bevan





















   Courtesy of repeats of the innovative S4C series 'Fideo Naw', I've recently revisited roc Cymraeg from the 90s in particular and realised just what I missed.
   In the 80s, with DJ John Peel as musical guru, I would listen avidly to punk band Yr Anrhefn and the most challenging but original of all Welsh groups Datblygu, who were greatly influenced by that genius Captain Beefheart.
   Records were hard to find and I once discovered Yr Anrhefn in the World Music section at HMV! Now they have a whole Welsh shelf, but no Welsh language bands on it.
   At the time my Welsh was rudimentary, but I did my best to pick up some lines, words and phrases. Singer-songwriters like Dafydd Iwan and Meic Stevens were much easier to comprehend and the latter's songs such as 'Dic Penderyn' and 'Bobby Sands' I really relished. Seeing him perform at a Welsh republican event in Cardiff further convinced me of his special place in music. 
   I believe that had he decided to record only in English, then Stevens would be up there with Dylan and Cohen today and it's a sad indictment of the dominance of the English language that he is still so marginalised.
   The same applies to Geraint Jarman, who began as  a poet and now publishes verse once again. He doesn't even get the recognition he deserves from Welsh-speakers, who tend to pigeon-hole him as 'white reggae'.
   Yet every Jarman album comprises so much more , especially the best ones like 'Gwesty Cymru' and 'Rhiniog' : the music ranges from rock to more funky and folky influences and Tich Gwilym was simply a guitarist to rival the very best. Jarman's lyrics were always those of a true bard.
   So, to the bands I missed out on and notably Y Cyrff, Ffa Coffi Pawb and U Thant. The first gave rise to Catatonia, the second boasted a certain Gruff Rhys as singer and the third must have been quite phenomenal live (they even started the Bluebird fans 'ayatollah' according to legend).
   Today, I think the talent in terms of Welsh language music lies with the many singer-songwriters, so varied both in music and lyrical emphasis. In English, on the other hand, it's bands like The Joy Formidable, Paper Aeroplanes and Future of the Left who lead the way.
   This is the best scene since the absurdly-named Cwl Cymru of the 1990s, a secret that has to be let out one of these days.
   In a way it's more intriguing, simply because it's such a long way from Future of the Left to Georgia Ruth, like the train journey from Cardiff to Aberystwyth, where they're  from respectively
!
   Welsh singer-songwriters tend to be more original than Welsh language bands because the latter are too in awe of the Super Furries and too inclined to imitate them (Sibrydion being just one example). However, the singer-songwriters feel greater freedom to borrow and adapt.
   Interestingly, all four I'm looking at have released bi-lingual material recently, just as Gorky's Zygotic Mynci did in their heyday.
   Firstly there is Huw M. (or Huw Meredydd Roberts) who , on 'Gathering Dusk', has 5 tracks in Welsh, 4 in English and one in baby-talk.
   While the English lyrics come over as rather sentimental at times, the Welsh songs are more edgy such as 'Ystafelloedd Gwag' and the more playful 'Brechdanau Sgwar'.
   Huw M. is influenced by the earlier Sufjan Stevens but never lets that music overpower him and his version of the traditional song 'Dyma lythyr' is one of the album's high-points.

   Lleuwen Steffan's 'Tan' comprises songs in both Welsh and Breton and, as she lives in Llydaw at present, that's not surprising.
   Her music blends folk and jazz effortlessly and reminds me of the sadly-missed band Gilespi and what they could have gone on to do with a smaller group of musicians.
   Out of the four, she is the most experimental, taking standard folk forms and developing them with quirky rhythms and  distinctive vocals : her voice has all the agility of a jazz singer
.
   The opening track 'Lle Wyt Ti Heno Iesu Grist' is a classic with its staccato strings, breathy singing and quick-step harp. Her Breton songs are more traditional, while songs like 'Paid a Son' show how she can evoke a sensual mood so well.
   She is a unique talent and I look forward very much to her next offering.
   Aberystwyth's Georgia Ruth is very much the artist of the moment. She featured greatly in the WOMEX international music festival at the Millennium Centre as both performer and presenter and won last year's Welsh Music Award for her debut album 'Week of Pines'.
   I like the importance of her harp-playing on the album and I'm told she is even better live.

   She is undoubtedly under the spell of Joni Mitchell, yet I'm sure she will gradually break away and find an even more distinctive style.  There is enough on the album to suggest this and the imagery of her lyrics is subtle and never pretentious, such as the title track and 'Mapping'.
   With his backing band Gweddillion, Merthyr's Jamie Bevan sounds the most traditionally folk of all four (tin whistles, pipes and accordion providing some the backing). Characters from Merthyr and the streets of his home town play a crucial role in his songs, like 'John the Lamb', a portrait of an infamous landlord and his pub in the 1960s.
   Opening track 'Bron' is Radio Cymru's record of the week this week and Frank Hennessey has played the raucous singalong 'No Lentils In Cawl' several times on Radio Wales.
   'Bach Yn Ryff' is a lively and tuneful e.p. and Jamie is happy to venture into English. It would be interesting to see what would happen if his folk persona met up with electronic experimenters Twlc Tlwc (with whom

he has close associations) and produced some music.
   New Welsh music is on it's way.........where to , I'm not sure.....but hopefully the ears of the world.

   ( I wrote this poem in response to Jamie's song 'No Lentils In Cawl').                          


                                   
Cawl  Yr  Iaith

 

Dw i’n moyn lentils yn  y cawl

ac Eisteddfodau heb gystadlu.


Dw i’n moyn ymuno a’r  cor

sy’n canu yn y tafarnau.


Dw’n lico gweld yr oen bach

yn y cae nid yn y llestri.


Dw i’n lico cerddoriaeth Gymraeg

ond ble mae e ar y teledu?


Dw i’n edrych ymlaen at farddoniaeth

gyda’r gwybodaeth y strydoedd. 

Dw i’n edrych ymlaen at gawl yr iaith :

bwyd symyl heb  farwoliaeth.

      


1 Comment

FOOTBALL'S  ANTI-HERO

1/10/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture'He does what he wants'
   It's rarely safe and steady being a fan of CCFC.
   Just when you think everything is hunky dory : in the Prem with the best manager I've known (yes, better than Scoular, DJ or Frankie), just after we've beaten Man. City, drawn with Man U at home and, above all, beaten Swansea.......just when we've signed class acts like Caulker, Medel and young Theo.....it all goes awry.
   Moody, the head of  recruitment and manager Malky Mackay's trusted side-kick gets the boot from owner
and full-time megalomaniac Vincent Tan, Malky himself is told in an email from Tan to resign or be sacked and then summarily dismissed.
   The players only find out about it on TV , as Tan does his best to out-crazy the Venkys at Blackburn. Malky is supported fully by just about every pundit, manager and , indeed, Cardiff City fan.
   Afterwards, there's even talk of the return of Dave Jones
( will he bring back Bothroyd and Chopra?). Tan himself is quoted at 66-1 to get the job. Any significance in the demonic numerals?
   Finally, the candidate everyone seemed to want, Ole Gunnar Solskaer, is appointed and we win away at Newcastle in the FA Cup, his first game in charge. Moreover, both subs score in very good imitations of the 'Baby-faced Assassin' as a player.
   If we carry on doing well, there's no doubt that 'Ole, Ole, Ole!' will be embraced by those selfsame fans who were so enraged at the treatment of Mackay.
   Many like myself, truly wish Tan would sell up and get out, so we revert to our traditional colours and bluebird badge. However, this is wishful thinking at present.
   Should Solskaer fail to keep us in the Premier though, I believe there will be a very strong backlash.
   So far , he gives the impression of being an excellent choice. He is intent on signing the right kind of players to alter our style of play to one more suited to the top league, rather than the overly defensive and cautious approach Malky
understandably deployed.
   Solskaer has rightly identified this problem and will change tactics to encourage more possession and patient build-up, rather than the tendency to play long balls out of defence.
   Some players will find it hard to adapt. Ben Turner for example, is a resolute defender, yet never comfortable on the ball and , too often, passes long straight to the opposition.
   In times of such upheaval it's hard to look at the many positives from this season to date.
   Amazingly, despite the conflicts caused by our intransigent owner, players have tried to remain focused, even though our poorer run did coincide with the tribulations.

   Craig Noone has come into the team recently and looked the part, Campbell threatened without sufficient support, Theo has been dangerous as an attacking full-back and Medel superb as the modern 'libero' (in front of the back four).
   Keeper Marshall has saved us on many occasions with truly world class stops and how captain Caulker doesn't get into the England squad is totally baffling.
   Mutch and Kim have promised, well......much. The former looks a real prospect, especially when running at defences.
   Yet in many games the one player who has oozed Premier class has been one Peter Whittingham. Against Man U he executed several long passes to Campbell which, from the boot of Giggs would've had the commentators swooning.

   Though he has scored less goals than usual, he has had many assists (often from free-kicks and corners) and has been asked to take on various roles ( wide, defensive midfielder and play-maker) and risen to each one.
   It seems shocking to me that, in picking their ideal Cardiff teams for the West Ham game, not one of Wales Online's experts selected Whitts. Odemwingie and Bellamy, both of whom having been largely ineffectual, are preferred, as is Kim, who seldom looks like scoring.
   Whitts may be a little slow, but he has improved markedly over the years, under both DJ and Malky.
   He began as a talented left-winger, signed from Villa for only £200,000. He was always full of skill and scored many spectacular goals, some from free-kicks. As penalty-taker and dead ball specialist he is one of the best.
   He never used to tackle much , track back, or use his right foot and this meant he would get stick from some fans.
   In the last five years he has acquired much more aggression, defends well and even uses that right foot.
   This week Solskaer signed his first player, Norwegian international midfielder Magnus Wolff Eikrem, described as a 'quarter-back' (I thought that was American football?), and pundits have suggested that Whitts' place is threatened.
   I sincerely hope that one of our longest-serving and most improved players continues to play a major role.
   When I recently bought a blue away shirt for my daughter, she let me  decide the name on the back. I had no hesitation!
   He is special. His goal celebrations are so fascinating because they are so different : he'll shrug his shoulders or give a bewildered stare. When he scored with a header against West Brom I honestly thought Campbell had got it because he ran away in jubilation, while Whitts collapsed on his face!
   He is football's anti-hero. A genuine rarity.


                                     ODE TO  WHITTS


He sits on his steps
outside his house supping tea,
takes his dog for a walk along the prom,
on Play Station all evening long
while the others are out on the town.

He heads a great goal
then falls flat on his face,
curls a free-kick into the net with grace,
powers an unstoppable pen.,
or his corner bends onto a willing head.


His goal celebrations the ultimate anti
as he walks away almost apologetically,
never punches the corner flag
kisses the badge, does a heart sign,
swings babies, golf clubs
or does a somersault like Earnie.
He'll raise an eye-brow maybe.

Whitts, quietly-spoken, with a hint of Nuneaton ,
can execute a long pass as good as Giggsy
and , with the years, he's tackling back
and using that once obsolete right peg.

In an age of the tweeting
ranting look-at-me celebrity,
Whitts, with his unshowmanship,
is humble and extraordinary.







   
 


0 Comments


    Archives

    November 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from johnharveypegg, Dai Lygad, joncandy, victoriapeckham, David Holt London, aeneastudio, fromthevalleys-, Metro Centric, andymag, David Bergin Photography, villunderlondon, @markheybo, joncandy, Martin Pettitt, Between the Shadows, joncandy, johnkell, olivia.barrie, villunderlondon, Lake Worth, MittenStatePhototog, frankieleon, robynejay, joncandy, mcaretaker, Thomas Leuthard, Knight Foundation, joncandy, Joybot, brownpau, Iburiedpaul, villunderlondon, amit_gaur, abegum, simonw92, beeveephoto, Aislinn Ritchie, Shannon Green Photography, joncandy, Nick J Webb, Vish Menon, AberCJ, gcoldironjr2003, joncandy, World Can't Wait, jonl1973, Watt_Dabney, petejam70, Kerndav, MJ Klaver, joncandy, Daquella manera, spratt504, joncandy, ashleigh290, Glyn Lowe Photoworks., afanatochka, r.nial.bradshaw, themendingnews, rikkis_refuge, Matthew Straubmuller, joncandy, onnola, final gather, funktionhouse, marioanima, joncandy, Dai Lygad, joncandy, Guttorm Flatabø, brittreints, garryknight, villunderlondon, wonker, Martin Pettitt, joncandy, tnarik, AJC1, simonw92, wardyboy400, joncandy, Bombardier, joncandy, Cargo Cult, joncandy, joncandy, SeanOConnor2010, Feral78, comedy_nose, Abode of Chaos, mkairishstudies, joncandy, avail, Jörg Weingrill, Gwydion M. Williams, Leshaines123, KiltBear, eisenbahner, Capt' Gorgeous, Francis Storr, New Chemical History, Matthew Black, jc.winkler, Gwenael Kere, Karen Roe