Matt Harvey
In 1992 began performing poems and is now a veteran of the UK’s festival circuit.
He is President of MIND in Exeter and East Devon and helps organise its regional Off the Wall comedy festival. Since co-writing and co starring in two series of One Night Stanza in 2001/02 he has become a regular Radio 4 voice, contributing to programmes such as Off The Page, Word of Mouth and A Good Read. He writes songs too.
Matt has published five books; Here We Are Then, Songs Sung Sideways, Standing Up To Be Counted Out, Curtains and Other Material and most recently The Hole in the Sum of my Parts which contains a selection from the previous four books plus some new bits.
Branscombe Beach
Where looters and polluters coincide
Branscombe Beach
Where beamer bikes are washed up by the tide
Saved from the sea’s spray
Shoved onto e-bay
Rob the Rubbish…..My Hero
He isn’t where the glamour is
Or where the glitz and glitter is
He’s far away from cameras
Rob is where the litter is.
Whose litter?
Ours!
Sound citizens like me and you
Who leave behind a residue
The wrapper of a snacky thing
Petroleum based packaging
An apple core, a bottle top
Look! Someone’s dropped their glottal stop
The stray lid off some Tupperware
The forelock of a Sherpa there
A crushed carton of orange juice
The landscape soaks up this abuse….
Then Rob steps in
´¡²Ô»å…
By picking up crisp packets, cling film and tin foil
Incongruous empties of Sprite and Drambui
He nurtures the flora and fauna and topsoil
And subtly recharges The Feng of its Shui
Rob is more than merely stoic
He is verging on heroic
He’s a super-dooper human
Doing topographic grooming
He is a man whose civic pride
Extends up every mountainside
He de-clutters their crevices
He’s even done Ben Nevis’s
The litter-dropper’s Nemesis
Is he a hero? You decide….
It’s a dirty world - but Rob won’t let us ruin it
It’s a dirty job - we’re glad that Rob is doing it
To Joe…
You typed out some tenderness then you pressed send and there’s
No going back - it’s all over the nation
You asked for a date and you got syndication…
…and a kind of anti-kudos when a virtual cyber Judas
Betrayed you with a click - did her conscience feel a prick?
If I was in your shoes Joe, I wouldn’t be amused
I’d never drop my guard again. I’d button up my cardigan
Put extra salt upon my chips - put the shun back in relationships
But after all that you’ve been through, would you, Joe?
No, though they dealt you such a low-blow, Joe, they couldn’t take your mojo Joe
And to those of us who know that to override the inner censor
Is so much more important than, say, membership of Mensa
You’re an inspiration…
You’re the patron saint of romeo-sexuality
Well you are to me.
I am drawn to you, Joe, kind of romeo-sexually
It’s people like us who still rent out Love Actually
We’re romantic fools and we will not pretend
We just type it all out then we madly press send
Or we blurt it out live here on Radio 4
So be kind to me Joe as I open the door
I can say this to you because you understand
That my foot’s in my mouth and my heart’s in your hand
So, Joe, before we hand over to Fi
Do you feel, just a bit, the same way about me…?
I really love the poetry every week on your show.
Complain about this postHow about publishing them all together at the end of a series?
You haven't lived until you've been a Town Crier!
Peter White, Town Crier of Seaford, East Sussex (since 1977). Stadtausrufer of Bonningstedt, Kreis Pinneburg, Schleswig Holstein (since 1982); Town Crier of Crivitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Since 2002)
[Doesn't this link accept JPEG photographs?]
Complain about this postYou haven't lived until you've been a Town Crier!
Peter White, Town Crier of Seaford, East Sussex (since 1977). Stadtausrufer of Bonningstedt, Kreis Pinneburg, Schleswig Holstein (since 1982); Town Crier of Crivitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Since 2002)
[Doesn't this link accept JPEG photographs?]
Complain about this posti WOULD LIKE ACQUIRE COPIES OF THE POEMS mATT hARVEY DID ON 5 LIVE TODAY
Complain about this postI too would like to get hold of a copy of the Matt Harvey's poetry read out on this morning's show. Is it in his latest publication?
Complain about this post