Tom Raworth RIP

He died in February, but not being a part of any poetry scene I only discovered the news this afternoon (April 17) I still recall a Raworth reading circa 1979. Memorable for the poet reading each poem twice, useful as he spoke so quickly and not too clearly, but the listening mind buzzed atteh connections and possibilities.

Listen to him (clearly) here at Pennsound.

‘A blind child falls into a cement mixer.’ from ‘Shoes’. You have to fall into his poetry reading it aloud – and at his speed.

‘I hear my poetry as a sort of music, though I don’t think of it as music. I think of it as language.’ Raworth mid eighties interview.

o sense is harsh
thoughts are more real
the sensuous pleasure
of a thought
fitting everything in                         ‘Catacoustics’

As When collects 50 years of Raworth’s shorter pieces (1963 – 2013), edited by Miles Champion, Carcanet Press.