Sketch Poetry

Send us Fan Mail 'What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?' Joe takes a much-needed walk in nature.  Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail 'Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole/ I thank whatever Gods may be for my unconquerable soul...' Joe goes back to his childhood rugby club (Eastleigh RFC) and talks about life, courage and odd-shaped balls, as well as this cracker of a poem.  Speech at the start from Ian McGeechan before the second test against the Springboks in Durban, 19...

Send us Fan Mail 'In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan...' Joe is back with some poetry for you. In this episode he walks the ancient York city walls and reads this festive masterpiece from Rossetti. He also accosts some friendly tourists and asks them about their favourite Christmas carols. Beginning audio: 2017 duet by Joe and a student in St. George's Church, Esher. Haro...

Send us Fan Mail "No diggin' 'ere." Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail Merry Christmas! God bless us, everyone. Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail Scrooge is shown his future, and eventually (though it takes some time) realises he needs to change his ways.  Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail Scrooge is shown his present, and it's not what he was expecting.  Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail Boo!  This story needs no introduction. Once again, I found this recording from 2022 and I wanted to share it.  If you want to hear the other Staves then please get in touch with me via email/subscribe. Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gma...

Send us Fan Mail Scrooge is shown his past.  Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness...' Joe takes a stroll in his hometown and kicks through some autumn leaves in keeping with the wonderful John Keats.  Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail ' Hill-warded haven, creek well found...' Joe takes a stroll in West Bay, Dorset and reads this little-known gem by William Barnes. Locals at the beginning deserve their own show, what a double-act! Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpo...

Send us Fan Mail Four Larkin poems for my former teacher, mentor, and friend Mr. Pete Winfield.  Poems: High Windows, Days, Church Going, An Arundel Tomb. Miss you, Pete.  Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' Joe takes a stroll to the theatre and discusses this summer sonnet by Shakespeare. Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail 'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may...' Joe talks about Carpe Diem, and Robin Williams. Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail 'Cut grass lies frail...' Recorded last year originally for the Philip Larkin Society's 'Joe Riley Presents' mini-series. A great lyric poem, best enjoyed in young-leafed nature. Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gm...

Send us Fan Mail 'Higher than the handsomest hotel...' Joe has, through some tricky circumstances, been visiting a particular building and thinks you should wander the corridors with him. If it doesn't come through in this episode: my absolute respect for all NHS staff that keep these buildings going, and especially to the good folk at University Hospital Southampton. Man in the lif...

Send us Fan Mail 'The mower stalled, twice...' I've been asked to mow the lawn this weekend. Here's a throwback to late spring 2024, when I recorded my first sketch for the Philip Larkin Society. If you are a lover of Larkin, please check out their excellent podcast entitled 'Tiny in all That Air' here. Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.socia...

Send us Fan Mail 'Let faxes butter-curl on dusty shelves...' Joe rings in spring by sitting in a sunny space and reads this wonderful poem for turbulent times.  Ros Barber kindly agreed to be interviewed about this poem and the second half is less a sketch and more a portrait of the poet herself, and how this superb poem came into being.  Find more of her work here: https://rosbarber.com...

Send us Fan Mail 'I wander thro' each chartered street, near where the chartered Thames does flow And mark in every face I meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe...' Joe heads to the Big Smoke and speaks with John Riordan from the William Blake Society. You can find his work here: https://www.johnriordan.co.uk/   and join the William Blake Society here: https://www.blakesociety.org M...

Send us Fan Mail 'Whose woods these are I think I know...' Happy 2025! Get your coat, get your gloves, get your...horse. We're going for a very bracing journey through the wintery landscape of this lovely poem.  Audio at the beginning from the Cohen Brothers' neo-Western masterpiece: No Country for Old Men. Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want...

Send us Fan Mail 'Once upon a midnight dreary...' A bumper Christmas episode. Enjoy during this bleak December! NEVERMORE! *Re-uploaded due to initial sound level issues.  Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail Not poetry, but I recorded this last year and wanted to share it with you. A spooky tale for the fireside this Christmas by the masterful M.R James. Sceptical Professor Parkins takes a trip to Burnstow to indulge in some research, and play some golf. He finds a mysterious whistle in the ruins of an old preceptory and, foolishly, blows it. From this point on, he is pursued by...wha...

Send us Fan Mail TW: Suicide. The Forest. An original poem by yours truly. Read along with it here. In honour of Movember, Joe shares his bad mental health day as well as a poem about the suicide forests of Mount Fuji. While this poem is dark, the episode is meant to be cathartic--nobody is truly alone in this world. To donate to Joe's Movember page: click here. For a bit of Joe's singin...

Send us Fan Mail The official trailer for Sketch Poetry. Share far and wide with anyone you think might like the show! Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com

Send us Fan Mail 'The steeples are white in the wild moonlight' Do not listen to this late at night. Support the show https://bsky.app/profile/sketchpoetry.bsky.social Want to hear a poem? Pitch it (and the setting in which you think it could be read) to me here: thesketchpoet@gmail.com