Teacher, compere, performer and poet, Winston Plowes spends his days fine-tuning background noise and rescuing discarded words. These are re-sculpted over a glass of wine into magical poetry birds he releases by night to fly to new homes in journals and online destinations worldwide.
He lives in a floating home in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire UK, were he tries to persuade his black cat, ‘Fatty’ that it’s a good idea for her to do the same.
Find out more about his work at his website here – www.winstonplowes.co.uk
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Visit 'Random Acts of Poetry' and learn about Winston's commemorative microchap, 'Hebden's Bridges.' His five poems showcase aspects of life in Hebden Bridge, Calderdale in northern UK. Under his guidance and inspired formatting suggestions, this microchap presents his poems paired with sections of a map showing the town's canals and rivers.
The Origami Poems Project was thrilled and honored to participate in the Hebden Bridge's summer 2017 Arts festival. The palm-sized microchaps were made available at this multi-faceted gathering during the event from 23rd June to 2nd July 2017. hebdenbridgeartsfestival.co.uk/
► Winston's Origami microchap and selected poem are available below. Click on the title to open, read, and print the one-page PDF. Folding instructions are linked under the "Who We Are" menu.
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Origami Microchap |
Selected Poem(s) |
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Extras (A4 paper format)
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Cover Art: “H” Gregg
http://www.hgregg.net/ To hear Winston Plowes read his chapbook, click: audio/mpeg
(Read along by clicking 'Extras' to the right)
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A Note from the Director:
The locals are feeling uneasy as a film crew
unexpectedly arrives in their small town
disrupting their daily routine.
Their brief cameos have been captured
in this series of short ‘frozen in frame’ poems -
as if they were extras on location in a film.
Briefly they become the focus
as their fleeting yet complex roles
are observed in detailed isolation.
Answers are not provided.
Mysteries not solved.
The camera moves on.
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Extras 1. Boy in shorts
In the coal yard the boy was learning to spit. Everything smelt of the black dust, some patches darker than others. The playground was unexpectedly closed. - 2. Elderly couple on bench They named the grandchild before it was born, but Joseph made her own plans. Life grows straight when there’s plenty of love. The courtroom was unexpectedly closed. - 3. Young woman with dog Waiting by the worn stone steps hidden by the hood of a green wool coat. Raindrops collected on the back of her pure white dog. The cinema was unexpectedly closed. - 4. Figure sat in doorway Living as a silhouette only shadows to fill the stomach until the next sunrise The back door was unexpectedly closed. - 5. Man in car The Range Rover mounted the pavement the driver texting Thailand, reversing against the arrows. His day had gone from bad to worse, the car park was unexpectedly closed. - 6. Teenager with bike It was now or never. He could still taste the blood from last time. Would the others ever know? The cemetery was unexpectedly closed. - 7. People in crowd Lidl trolleys clashing together, a mother talking at her son. Smoking through a veil of lank hair he mumbled something about a coin. The supermarket was unexpectedly closed. - 8. Woman in evening dress Left hand racing to her ear she only felt one peacock feather. With no contingency plan the exhibition was unexpectedly closed. •
Winston Plowes © 2014
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