Peter Lilly: Poems

Escalation It twists against itself— the spring-loaded serpent pushing the bullet from the cartridge into the chamber. Wound in metal— a charged agenda unites just enough to divide, consolidates power by tightening on targets, for all can be molded into success when you shape the narrative. But there is also a natural spiral of escalating resistance— when you extinguish a poet some protesters might carry the alleged 9mm, when you terminate a nurse the fuse has almost burnt out, and ice will meet the people’s fire, having doused the streets with the accelerant of death.

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart  I had the pleasure of featuring on the beautiful Christmas Special of the wonderful poetry podcast Eat the Storms , Christmas special.  In this special episode I read three poems about Christmas of decreasing silliness: "The Shepherd's #Christmas", "A Christmas Carol" and "Christmas Day". The second two appear in my 2nd collection " A Handful of Prayers ", and the 3rd was originally published on Ekstasis. You can listen to me, and the other wonderful readers here: This was the third time I had the pleasure of appearing on the podcast. All poetry fans are indebted to  Damien B. Donnelly  for his hard work, passion and faithfulness in producing it.

  For the first day of Advent, I'm posting this reading of my poem Christmas Hit, from my first collection "An Array of Vapour".  If you're in the UK and want to let your local charity know about someone rough sleeping, you can make a report through streetlink. If you want to know to support people struggling with their housing a Shelter is a good place to start. New Hope is the wonderful charity I worked for in Watford UK. If you're not in the UK, it shouldn't be too difficult to find the charities and associations who support vulnerable people in your area.  "An Array of Vapour" is available to purchase here.

Celebrate Blake Friday by exercising the Divine Arts of the Imagination:  Here's a reading of my poem "Personality" from my second collection "A Handful of prayers".

 

 I'm ecstatic to announce that "A Handful of Prayers" my second poetry collection is now available with Wipf & Stock.  More about this collection in future posts. 

My debut Poetry collection "An Array of Vapour", published by TSL Publications, is now available for purchase here:  https://tslbooks.uk/product/an-array-of-vapour-peter-lilly/ This blog post is about Matthew Heasman's endorsement of the book, and the work of New Hope . It was an honour to work under Matthew's leadership at New Hope, and I am very humbled by his kind words about me and this book.  For those who don't know, New Hope is a local charity to Watford, just north-west of London, providing support, advice, food and shelter for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. They have a variety of different housing services ranging from emergency beds in the night-shelter, to medium term move-on accommodation, as well as drop-in services, a soup kitchen, and a support for those who have previously been homeless, to help them sustain their recovery.  In my five years working for the charity I had four positions in three different projects, but all ...

It has been a while since I last posted on my blog. But I have decided to revive it in anticipation for the release of my first poetry collection "An Array of Vapour"  with  TSL books .  I'm really excited to share this collection with you! But first, I want to catch on the wonderful journals that have published my poetry since the summer of 2022. You can click on the titles to navigate to the poems or the publications 😊. 'Soil', in Furrows by Green Ink Poetry In August 2022, I was ecstatic to have my poem ‘Soil’ published in ‘Furrows’, a print collection   by Green Ink Poetry.  This poem was written in honour of Wendell Berry , whose own writing and work are an endless source of inspiration for my poetry and life.  This was my first time being published by Green Ink, and it was especially exciting because this is such an outstanding edition. It was such a privilege to be published alongside such amazing authors and inspiring pieces.  ‘Corfu’ Publishe...

  I'm thrilled to announce that three of my poems were chosen for inclusion in the 3rd edition of DRIECH BROAD. The above poem A-Perfect is one of the three poems that were included, which I'm excited to share with you, especially as this edition sold out even before making it to the Dreich Website! Dreich is a wonderful publisher of poetry magazines, books and chapbooks, based and in Scotland edited by Jack Caradoc. It is a continuation of 'Hybrid', a multi-arts platform, started in the late 80's that published some legendary poets like Lawrence Ferlinghetti , Julia Darling , Brendan Cleary and Linda France , to name just a few. A generation later Dreich was launched with the vision of utilising new medias and retaining the small press ethic of 'Poetry for all... free of ego... bias and favouritism."* Their series DREICH BROAD is a beautiful A4 colour print journal, that includes poetry by invitation only, so I am extremely thankful to have these poems i...

I'm very excited to announce that one of my poems was published in The Minison Project Sonnet Collection Series, Volume 4  which came out in July. This exciting and growing project to re-imagine Shakespeare's sonnet started as an online magazine and has been developing into a press. The way they encourage and explore experimentation and development with this familiar poetic form is both important and inspiring, and results in a lot of beautiful writing. My poem in this sonnet connection 'Becoming Paper' was inspired by my previous work with the homeless of Watford. It explores deep emotional and mental struggle, and leans into the inspiring resolve that many people can find to go on when they feel they cannot. Do check out this wonderful issue, but also the rest of the work and writing made available by this exciting project. 

I'm delighted to announce that I have two poems included in the brand new anthology of poetry inspired by the one and only Bob Dylan, published by Fevers of the Mind . As for so many people, Bob Dylan has been a hugely important artist in my development as a person, a musician, and a poet. I grew up listening to him, because my dad was a fan. It was at the age of 13, when I first heard Dylan read his poem "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie" , the final track on Volume One of his Bootleg Series, that I was first deeply impacted by the power of poetry, and started writing poems of my own. If longevity of career, diversity of output and fanbase, ability to adapt to sociocultural changes, enduring relevance, and ability to inspire new works or art, are measures of a great artist, then Bob Dylan is surely one of the greatest of the last century. And this exciting anthology of poetry inspired by his words and music is a great example of how he continues to inspire new artists and...

I'm really proud to announce that I have had a sequence of three sonnets published in "Waging Peace", the Summer 2022 edition of BeZine. The BeZine is an online journal focusing on "activism-art related to peace, sustainability, social justice, and the life f the spirit with activism." It is a privilege to be included in a project of such positivity and creativity. My three Sonnets are part of my series "Poems and Sonnets for the End of Modernity" which have already appeared in a number of different journals. This series of three sonnets takes us through different ways of engaging with discontent and revolution. "Fights" explores negative reactionism, after which "The Good Fight" seeks to reframe protest and struggle asking deeper questions. Finally "Revolutionary" starts to paint a picture of the sort of holistic and personal change that is makes up the social change that is needed. The forth poem in this sequence was pub...

I'm very happy to announce that two of my poems have been published in issue one of the exciting new literary journal Archetype .  With the tagline "Reminding us what it is like to be made of flesh" they seek to publish work that honestly highlights and celebrates the embodied nature of human existence. It's always great to see a journal start from a great idea, and even better when the start is this strong. Follow this link to check out their wonderful first issue and discover the wonderful creativity within... The two poems I have in this wonderful issue are 'A Man Without a Mirror' and 'To My Son, At 3 Days'. 'A Man Without a Mirror'  poses questions about self-image as an admiration of a person who is oblivious to the reflected gaze of not only our mirrors, but our innumerable devices with selfie cameras. 'To My Son, At 3 Days' is a poem that has particular importance for me because I wrote it while in hospital three days after ...

  I'm honoured to announce that three of my poems have been published in Issue 4 of the ever-wonderful Paddler Press. Paddler Press is a print poetry & art magazine based in Peterborough/Nogojiwanong, Ontario, Canada. The aim to 'share the work of amazing creators with the world.' What I love about Paddler is how their appreciation for the beauty of language and the beauty of the natural world intermingle to produce deep and inspiring issues.  Two of my poems, 'Unfamiliar' and 'Harrowed' are from my series 'Poems and Sonnets for the End of Modernity', written out of reflections on how the COVID crisis has affected the current socio-cultural shift we are living through. Other poems from this series can be read in Ekstasis Magazine here and here , two poems featured in the Lothlorien Poetry Journal issue 7 and online here , owenbarfield.org , Agape Review , Radix Magazine , and Macrina Magazine . My third poem in this series 'Spring' is a...

  I'm really pleased to announce that I have an article , which includes five poems, published in this months edition of Radix Magazine. This edition, and the last edition of Radix have been focussing on frontline work with vulnerable and destitute people, and my article was born from reflections of my five years working in frontline homelessness care for the UK charity New Hope.  The article is specifically aimed at Christian believers and aims at giving reasons why the revolutionary work of caring for the vulnerable and destitute is a very important part of Christian discipleship. Most of the five poems were written during my time in this work. The poem 'Absolution' has already appeared in the journal Heart of Flesh , and you can also see a video I made for another of the poems 'Agony' here . New Hope is a wonderful local homeless charity based in Watford, north-west of London. It provides a variety of emergency and supported accommodation as well as outreach and...

  I'm excited to announce that my poem ' Imago Dei ' has been published by Spillwords Press. Spillwords is a wonderful online journal where writers 'share their words which feed the soul and ignite a flame within the heart while exciting the recesses of the brain.' They publish a wide variety of poetry, fiction and articles, and it is a privilege to be included on their platform.  My poem is a reflection on human nature and the innate value of personhood. We are so much more than useful!  Click here to give it a read and click the heart button to let Spillwords know that you like it.

I was truly honoured to have my poem 'Christmas Day' published in Ekstasis Magazine this Christmas day!  This is the second time I have had the privilege of appearing in Ekstasis ( click here to read 'for the Inklings' my other poem the published), who continue to publish wonderfully inspiring articles and poetry as part of Christianity Today's media family.  Ekstasis "aims to be a kind of digital cathedral, where we can have sanctuary from the noise, and find a place that captures our attention through loving art and luminous words," and it is wonderful to be a part of this cathedral.  I am especially humbled to see my name alongside other wonderful poets, especially two of my favourite living poets, Luci Shaw & Scot Cairns who were also published by Ekstasis in December 2021. My poem explores how, in moments of sharing and loving, we can experience a type of transfiguration, where 'A lifetime burns in every moment' to quote the T.S. Eli...

I'm delighted to have four poems published by the wonderful Lothlorien Poetry Journal , on line, and also feature in Issue 7 of the print journal . With the exciting blog and beautiful in print journal, Strider Marcus Jones is a wonderful advocate of beautiful new poetry and, with five books published, an amazing poet in his own right. You wont regret looking up his work. Click here here to order your own copy of Issue 7... With 250 pages of poetry from over 60 authors from all around the world, you can read my work, and discover lots of amazing new poetry. You can also click here to read my four poems on the Lothlorien blog. The two 'Light Sources' poems were influenced by my time working with the homeless of Watford, for the charity New Hope . The other two poems are from my recent series 'Poems & Sonnets for the End of Modernity'. The poem 'For Tolkien' is closely linked to the ' Sonnet for Owen Barfield ', recently published by the Owen B...