Tag: Cathleen Davies

NaPoWriMo Day 29: Cathleen Davies – Singer/artist

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Write a poem inspired by a singer or artist with this prompt from Cathleen Davies on the penultimate day of NaPoWriMo.

Opportunity

The Opportunity Rover died
On Mars
Alone
While it was getting dark
And his batteries were low

And at the time,
I was reading
about Ziggy Stardust:
The man who fell to earth
And sacrificed himself
In reverent crucifixion

And at the time
I was grieving
a beautiful young boy
who wrote stories about Catholic guilt
repressing sexualities

And I thought about how much this boy liked David Bowie
And I thought about the Spiders from Mars
And I thought about rock and roll suicides

But mostly I just worried
about Opportunity
because it is
so scary
in the dark.

For more NaPoWriMo tips and writing prompts check out the book Poetry Non-Stop.

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NaPoWriMo Day 11: Cathleen Davies – A poem for the dead

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Cathleen Davies returns with a prompt to write a poem for the dead and shares a hard hitting poem about teenage murder victim Elianne Andam as inspiration.

Elianne

I’m so sorry, honey,
Did my flinching hurt your feelings?
It must have been so hard for you
When you made me uncomfortable
Because you’re one of the good ones, right?
Not giving up without a fight,
Romantic to those aching bones
Despite your flaws, like, sensitive, I know.
And deserving of love.
Not their love, no, just mine,
And just the type of love that paints my
Insides all your favourite colours.
You deserve it, yeah, you suffered.
And you could make me so happy,
If I’d just fucking let you
If I wasn’t such a cunt about it
I’m so sorry, I’m confused.
Was I too harsh or too unclear?
Yeah, no, I know my words were not
The ones you want to hear.
Now would you please just put the knife down, dear?
When I was small (I should say smaller)
Songs told me about love.
When two hearts would together flutter
Kisses melting legs like butter
Joining souls in one sweet motion
Bodies rocking like an ocean wave
Yeah, that won’t happen now, for me.
I should have seen myself for what I was,
Just your desired commodity.
And it’s a shame. I’ll miss it.
See, girls get lonely too.
We just don’t stab people about it.
Girls get lonely too,
We just don’t get so mad about it.
Girls get lonely too,
But we survive it when
You let us.

Kiss my feet then call me bitch.
I never had a fucking death wish.

Cathleen Davies

For more NaPoWriMo tips and writing prompts check out the book Poetry Non-Stop.

If you’ve enjoyed this podcast please consider showing your support with a donation via ko-fi.com

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Books by many of the poets featured on the podcast, are available from the Poetry Non-Stop bookshop here. All books purchased via this link help to raise money to keep this podcast going.

NaPoWriMo Day Two: Cathleen Davies – Films

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We welcome back Norwich writer Cathleen Davies who invites us to explore our favourite and most memorable films for today’s prompt. Here’s their poem inspired by Thelma and Louise which you can hear more about on the podcast.

GOOD, WELL DONE, ALRIGHT, CALM DOWN

Our lecturer told me to write about a heist,
but I wanted to write about
a suicide pact.

I met them in the middle and watched Thelma and Louise,
Focussed on the scene
Straight after the robbery
Where they’re laughing in the Thunderbird,
‘Cause there, they were alive.

You marked the story for me, stapled it professionally,
Scribbled notes in the margin,
And highlighted the text.
I know you never said,
But I could tell you weren’t impressed.
You liked the suicide, though, scribbled
‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes’

My darling,
I’m glad you found the words ‘well crafted.’
I never meant for you
To take them
As an instruction manual.

Cathleen Davies

You can find out more about Cathleen here.

For more NaPoWriMo tips and writing prompts check out the book Poetry Non-Stop.

If you’ve enjoyed this podcast please consider showing your support with a donation via ko-fi.com

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Books by many of the poets featured on the podcast, are available from the Poetry Non-Stop bookshop here. All books purchased via this link help to raise money to keep this podcast going.

Norfolk Poets: Cathleen Davies

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The next poet in this series showcasing Norfolk talent is the prolific Cathleen Davies who has already published two books and has a third coming out next year. Cathleen is a very versatile writer and you never know quite what they’re going to come up with next. In these three poems we hear about the pandemic, politics, the Mars rover, David Bowie and love. 

Cathleen Davies is a writer, teacher, editor, and researcher currently completing their Creative / Critical PhD at the University of East Anglia. Their debut collection of short stories Cheeky, Bloody Articles was published by 4Horsemen Publications in August ’22, and their memoir And Marvel was released in 2023. Their upcoming collection Fluid will be released 2024. Davies currently lives in Norwich with their flatmate, and their nineteen-year-old cat Fliss. In their spare time, they haunt gritty venues, drink too much beer, and enjoy their local music scene.

You can find out more about Cathleen here.

Books by many of the poets featured on the podcast are available from the Poetry Non-Stop bookshop here. All books purchased via this link help to raise money to keep this podcast going.