Is it a bird, is it a plane? No it's just that Whiskey kid.

Poetry has always been cool. At least in my books.
but simon armitage and john agard made it so much cooler.

saw them live yesterday at a school trip. there were other poets, like gillian clarke who many have agreed was dull, and carol ann duffy who, despite being the most famous one there, was also the most unlikeable. as my english teacher pointed out, it's admirable that carol ann duffy doesn't feel she has to prove herself to teenagers, but she could have been a bit less pretentious. it's poetry for chrissake. it's only okay.

But Simon Armitage was engaging, funny and gave a real insight into his brilliant rap-like poems, and had some nice quick comebacks to the clever heckers in the crowd at question time ("Oi, how do you know a poem's finished?" "When it gets to the end...") and ("Hey Simon, boxers or pants?" "Well since you ask, today I've gone commando")


As for John Agard, well he rocked the boat. A poet from Guyana, his poems are funny and get you to laugh at British idiosyncracies, but also make you feel proud to be British. He also looked the part, looking pretty rugged with a fit beard. When we saw him outside in the break before he had done his bit, I thought he was a homeless guy wandering past. But he caught my attention with how mysterious he looked and then I was like 'Wait, he's on the flyer...'

Imtiaz Dharker and Grace Nichols also gave talks on some of their poems. Grace Nichols 'Island Man' is pretty poignant and lovely, and Imtiaz Dharker's poem about the tiffin trays in Mumbai is brilliant. You really need to listen to poetry being read by who wrote it to understand it fully and know how it was meant to be read.

So that's all I have on that topic.
Oh and yesterday i went to funkymonks, where i got a shirt dress thing that looks like Superman and a sailor have had a gay child that works in McDonalds. I love it. Although I'm dying my hair red this weekend so it wasn't a good choice, seeing as red clashes. Still, i might be mistaken for a superhero.

Good night, don't let the bugs bite