A Weakness for Mermaids

These highly individual pieces begin with This Story, a preamble for the askance events that follow. The cast and locations are juxtaposed with extraordinary scenes: from luring giant pictures of elephants out of a dusky sea, to shopping in the supermarket, pondering a day in the life of a working lemon; or talking to a mermaid about old fridges. But if adjectives like ‘quirky’ hit you full in the face, then look out for the subtleties that lurk beneath the sheen, not to mention an overt glimpse of the serious. There’s a fax machine jammed with Christmas pudding, there’s mushrooms growing on the backs of his hands, and Haworth Hodgkinson concludes with a poem that aims to flog this book. At £3.50, what can you say?
 

Choosing Cards


I think I would look
for an image of permanence.

Champagne glasses are all very well
with a slice of watermelon
and breakfast on a stick,
but by evening the bubbles
have flown
and the words
are all but forgotten.

Hearts would be fine,
fresh and cushion-like,
but after rolling in the sand
they become grazed
with accumulated grit
as they rub up
against each other.

Stars, then:
surely they would make a lasting symbol,
but stars are smothered in the night
by thunderclouds intent on forging them
into jagged atmospheric flashes.

I think I would look
for an image of permanence,
like a dragonfly
or a snowball in Hell.

Bio: Born in Lancashire, but resident in North-East Scotland for twenty years, Haworth Hodgkinson is best known as a poet, but he also writes short stories and is involved in music and theatre.

He performs as a poet and musician with the Blue Salt Collective, presenting poetry accompanied by visual images, live music and dance.

Haworth Hodgkinson is the Founder and Director of Wordfringe, the new writing festival for North-East Scotland, and its newly formed offshoot theatre company Wordfringe Festival Players.

Read more on www.haworthhodgkinson.co.uk