THIS IS MY TRUTH, TELL MY YOURS

SUFFOLK PUNCH is 14 years old this year. I'm sure there are blogs that have been going even longer, but there can't be many. As a form the blog seemed to go out of fashion when Facebook really started gaining traction, other than those that were linked to a specific institution like a university or a business. And how well read they are is anybody's guess, although I came across one from Keele University recently that was exceptional. Business blogs are almost always unreadably bland, presenting a picture of its activities and achievements so sunny and positive no one believes them.

Blogs by individuals probably aren't immediate or interactive enough for the modern audience. Unless my hits counter tells the story of one singularly unpopular blogger. My readership is considerably smaller than it used to be, and my profile as a poet and an editor is much higher. But still I write SP doggedly, stubborn as an old tree stump, determined not to give up. I write a private journal too. I've been doing that since 1987, long before I'd ever heard of the internet. Putting ideas down in (hopefully) well-constructed sentences for anybody who might be interested - that's just what I do. And the content of my blog, although it isn't as revealing as my private journal, must be honest and true to my vision of the world as a poet and an activist (of sorts), or the whole reason for writing vanishes. 

The title of an old album by somebody or other said it best: this is my truth, tell me yours. SUFFOLK PUNCH is, was and always will be the place where, whether anybody else was interested or not, I shared what I was thinking at the time. But not as edicts laid down on tablets of stone; just as statements of opinion or histories of my experiences. When the poems aren't coming, in particular, it's a useful outlet. And even when they are, I don't always want to be hitting social media vainly linking to my published works. I did that when my poetry book came out and nobody bought it anyway.

I'd much rather have a conversation. Show you a little of who I am and see what you come back with. 'Candor ends paranoia' as Allen Ginsberg says. And if the world can be persuaded to drop its guard and talk, we might have a future. It's not working at the moment, with the blog, but I've been at it too long -- i'm in too deep -- to give up on this old horse now.