Today in our poetry news round up we look at a poetic tribute to the Late Prince Philip, BenJamin Zephaniah’s concerns over the police and the poetry recital before a space flight.
Poet Laureate”s Tribute to Late Prince Philip
On the first anniversary of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh the Royal family have shared a tribute penned by Simon Armitage, the poet laureate. The Patriarchs is an Elegy and the shared clip which they published on their social media accounts is of the poet reading the poem to an accompaniment of piano music and a montage of photographs depicting the Duke’s life.
The poem was first published last year on the day of his funeral, and pays tribute not only to his life but in particular to his career in the Royal Navy.
Poet Decries “Ridiculous Police Stops”
The poet Benjamin Zephaniah has declared that it may very well be time for someone to write a book about what he terms the
During a recent interview, Zephaniah who is quite vocal, and rightly so, on a number of subjects, was recalling an incident where he was himself stopped by the police on Finchley Road in London. They believed he was using his mobile phone whilst driving and stopped him, one of the police officers involved had in fact mistaken his well known dreadlocks under his hat for a mobile phone. Zephaniah says that the other officer involved in the stop then said ‘It’s the poet! It’s the poet!’ before they asked him for his autograph.
He has spoken out about the incident now following a story about a rapper who was stopped just last month because they were wearing a large coat on a very sunny day. These are the stories he says that you simply couldn’t make up. Pondering over the stories that he has heard from his friends on the matter the poet, and writer, is wondering if now is the time to write “that book.”
Astronaut Recites Poetry
The first all-private space mission from the company Axiom, a commercial spaceflight company, has blasted into orbit on a visit to the International Space Station (ISS).
The flight which is the first for a company who are one day hoping to build their own space station is carrying a 4 person team made up of an Israeli philanthropist, a real estate entrepreneur from the US, a Canadian investor and the commander of the mission a NASA astronaut.
Just before they lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre, one of the passengers recited from the work of Constantine Cavafy, a renowned Greek poet. The poet Ithaca is a highly symbolic one for the journey as it talks about the destination at the end of a long journey.
Written in 1911, this is one of the most widely regarded works by Cavafy and in parts is evocative of Homer’s Odyssey. Born in Egypt, the poet spent most of his life in Greece, however it wasn’t until after his death that most of his poetry was actually published in book form.
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