This world was once in harmonyAnd somehow we Let it GoNow even Elsa can’t re-freezeThe polar ice and snow No hammer blow from Mighty ThorCan stop the storms from...
Coffee used to be one of my least favourite things. The smell was so off-putting for me that I used to stay away from hotel restaurants, watching my family head off to...
Our civilisation is at a turning point. Climate change and biodiversity loss are accelerating towards a point of no return, but there is still hope. We know what we need...
This poem was written in response to a talk that I heard Marcus Link give at a Holos Earth Project event in September 2022. Sing from the edge of the universeEach moment...
In 2001, on a research trip to Nepal, me and my girlfriend found ourselves with some spare time and decided to visit Chitwan National Park. Chitwan is one of the few...
The other day I read a tweet from a good friend of mine asking for a one line summary of what makes a good dad. Everyone who responded had their own ideas – from...
I used to catch butterflies as a kid and was always amazed by their beauty, their fragility and their ability to survive against the odds. Courage can be as elusive and...
This poem tells the story of getting engaged to my childhood sweetheart at the age of 21. A lot of people will advise you against doing a dumb thing like that but you...
My memories of childhood include a lot of walking! Walking on Dartmoor to the top of the Ugborough Beacon, walking in the Lake District and the Brecon Beacons with...
My Nana died when I was relatively young. She was an amazing women, well ahead of her time in lots of ways. I would hear stories about her climbing Mont Blanc or taking...
This poem is about the first time I visited my girlfriend after she’d started university in Liverpool. I was very much a boy from Devon. I hadn’t spent much...
When I get stressed I wake up at 3AM. Always 3AM. At that time all is black and I remember what it is to be scared like I was when I was small. I wrote this poem to try...
Kicking a ball against a wall – over and over and over. There was a big part of my childhood where this was my favourite pastime. I’d stand on the patio...
We got engaged pretty young. We were only 21 and we wanted to celebrate the occasion in Liverpool with all our friends. A bunch of people were invited and we went out...
In a lot of ways this moment wasn’t mine. My incredible wife Susanna had spent the last nine months dedicating her life to the new person growing inside her. She...
This is a poem about Fatherhood. Nothing challenges you like having children. It’s the most purposeful, joyful and rewarding experience but at the same time it can...
Jurassic Park was one of those movies that really hit the mark for me. At ten years old I was completely thrilled by it and I still love it now. It makes me think about...
There was no greater thrill when I was growing up than the feeling of arriving at Old Trafford after 6 hours on a coach from South Devon. Football was (and is) a huge...
I’ve always found it funny that love is so closely associated with sex and romance. Those things are great (sometimes really great) and important in their way but...
Here’s a cheerful story to take your mind off Omicron (and hopefully all the other Transformers). When I was younger, I was a lot more concerned about what other...
This is the first poem that I wrote for Life’s Little Dramas. I needed a rallying call. Something to change my own way of thinking and galvanise me to actually...
We’re all made of the same stuff in the end. I find that reassuring. Every atom that makes up our bodies has been in existence for longer than anyone can imagine...
Many years ago I travelled with my wife (then girlfriend) through Nepal, doing research and exploring together. This is a story about a bus journey through the foothills...
Have you ever set your expectations so low that there was no chance you could fail? I ran in a race once where I did exactly that. I convinced myself that I was never...
This is the story of why I don’t go on fairground rides. It took place in 1997 in Totnes, Devon and I take this opportunity to apologise to all those who may have...
Sometimes in life you can be ambushed by a moment of pure terror. Everything seems to be going along swimmingly and then, suddenly, it isn’t. This is a poem about...
When I was about 10 I had my pants pulled down at school. I was mortified not just by what happened but by my over the top reaction to it. Since I still remember it more...
Telling someone that you love them for the first time can be properly terrifying. Fear of rejection is such a powerful deterrent from doing the big stuff in life but...
Fear of the unknown always tends to strike me when hospitals are involved. Sometimes really simple stuff like your dad buying you chicken can pull you out of yourself...
I’ve always loved sport, particularly football. I wanted to write a poem about this moment because for me it captured everything that is magical about sport. It...