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‘From Green to Black’ Poetry by Frank McMahon – Download Here

6 January, 2015 Andy Szpuk

DIY Poet, Frank McMahon, has released his second book of poetry this year, and his third in total. It’s another thoughtful and energetic collection. Frank’s poems are usually quite short, but he has the knack of packing a lot into a few lines of verse. The material is autobiographical in tone, with many keen observations on modern life, history and society.

The book is usually available at DIY POETS gigs and other associated events, priced at £3.

It’s also available here as a download:

‘From Green to Black’ (by Frank McMahon)

Performance Poetry Workshop at Nottingham Writers Studio – 9th November 2014

3 December, 2014 Andy Szpuk

FRANK MCMAHON REPORTS:

Five DIY Poets met on Sunday 9^th November 7- 9pm at the Nottingham Writers Studio for an informal poetry performance workshop. The aim was for each poet to increase their skills and confidence when reading/ performing their poetry. Each poet gave a history of their performing their work and how they would like to develop in terms of performing their work. During the session each poet read one of their poems to the group and reflected on how they performed it.

Among the things we discussed were:

1. The importance of a good intro. This is to give a bit of context to a poem, as unlike as when a poem is on the page, the audience have only one chance to hear the poem.

2. Pace of reading. Not to read too fast as this will make it harder for the audience to get the poem and will diminish its impact. A suggestion was to highlight words or phrases that may need to have a pause or emphasised. Consider what words are particularly important. Practice reading the poem and varying the pacing at home.

3. Use of large font and poems to be typed. If the type is large font it is easier to read and the poet can look at the audience more than if they have to strain to read smaller font.

4. Consider the time allocated. Time how long the poem takes reading aloud at home. Do not try to cram too many poems in (I have been a victim of this in the past!). Allow a bit of a break between poems for the audience to process the information.

5. Have the poems in a folder rather than individual bits of paper. It looks more professional and organised and if you are feeling nervous the weight of the folder means the audience will not see any shaking hands.

6. Memorising v not memorising. It’s good to be able to perform the poem without looking constantly at the paper but if too much emphasis is put on memorising the poem this can be counterproductive. If someone turns up without the printed poems they have nothing to fall back on if their mind goes blank. Also, if the emphasis is mostly on just memorising the poem the poet may not be concentrating on other things such as the pace of the poem and where to slow down and put emphasis.

DIY POETS – Gig Reviewed – All the Action from Nov 13th, 2014

16 November, 2014 Andy Szpuk

Martin Grey doing the honours:

The evening of November 13^th 2014 was unseasonably mild, not because of the instability of the gulf stream due to climate change, but because it was the night of the latest DIY Poets event. After all, what better way to while away a late autumn evening than with some of Nottingham’s finest poets? Exactly.

Our leader, compere and guru, Frank McMahon, waited for the audience to filter in before kicking things off, explaining that each poet has seven minutes to do their thing. Failure to keep time would get you the white light of enlightenment, while failure to heed the white light would get you the red light of shame. Versatile things, those bike lights.

First up was Orla, who regaled us with stories of love, loss and relationships through elusive friendships, the time she met an American ex-soldier in Brussels, lettuce, Algerian World Cup games and taking her housemate’s banana on a tour of the peak district. Orla delivered darkness with subtlety, innuendo and ferocious mellowness, while the darker it got, the happier you seemed to become. A great start to the show.

“Days are not going to plan” proclaimed our next poet, Lytitia, who explained why she has to finish any book she starts, even if she doesn’t like it, before reading a trilogy of short poems about endings. “V is for Vengeance” told a story of helplessly watching a V1 bomb about to land, while she finished on a Spike Milligan piece called “Small Holes in the Sky”. A gentle and tender set delivered like a pro.

The first third concluded with A Sole, reading from one of his many, many books. A Sole crams in conflicting metaphor like a rush hour tube train crams in suits. From “Mad Mohan”, a story of Mohammed marrying a six year old girl, to “The Day Breaker”, Michigan based metaphor on the human condition, to “Lowry”, about a trip to an art gallery and the unknown soldier, you’re left wanting to buy the book so you can get lost in the words and try and work out what it all means. Some people did.

At DIY Poets, we’re aware that being able to get a beer without missing any of the poetry is important, so after a short break it was my turn. I started by talking about the Podemos political revolution that’s currently taking place in Spain. Podemos is Spanish for “We can”, which I parodied in “We Can”, about how in Britain it seems that we can’t. I followed up with “We Could Start a Revolution”, about how we could all inspire each other to make a better future, because if they can do it in Spain, we can too.

The crowd continued to trickle in as Clare confidently took to the stage, to ask us about what you do with anger and how you stop it. All of Clare’s pieces were laced with nostalgia, from linking the Windsor Castle fire and the first women priests to a difficult childbirth in “Annus Horriblus 1992”, to the times she skived off school to paint with her Mum. With the crowd in a quiet reminisce, she finished with “We Were Gentle”, a brutal counter attack on the government’s assault on our values and cherished institutions. Perfectly timed and perfectly delivered.

The newest performer of the night, Julian, was next. Making his second appearance, but already seeming accomplished on the stage, he read a long piece from the point of view of an internet troll, called “The Factor of My Emptiness”. With a quiet delivery combined with heavyweight lines of “sadomasochistic psychic warfare”, mixed with references to fighting and general thuggery, the frightened, confused troll within all trolls was effortlessly dissected.

After another quick break, our leader, Frank, was introduced, proclaiming with a cheeky smile that as the bike lights were in his pocket, the rules didn’t apply to him. Frank showed yet again that he is a master of the short poem, as he rolled through piece after piece about childhood disappointment, from discovering that cupboards didn’t actually lead to Narnia, to psychopathic PE teachers and old rock clubs becoming supermarkets. “Doctor Who Childhood” touched on the vulnerability of only having one heart, while “First Hero Beginning”, about Hurricane Higgins, told of how our heroes are just as vulnerable as we are.

Frank was swiftly back on stage, to introduce the penultimate poet, John, who promptly professed that poetry is better than therapy because therapy costs £45 an hour. It was a frank and touching set, including “The Lost Chord”, a beautiful piece about the prevalence of dementia and having to put family members into a nursing home. The only duet of the night came in “Menorca”, about being in paradise but for some reason missing Nottingham, with Lytitia providing the backing. John always delivers with a swagger and can make a laugh from almost anywhere. A top notch set.

All of which brought us to the main event. Andy Szpuk. Feature poet. The feature poet slot is a great opportunity to do something extra special and Andy certainly didn’t disappoint. Starting by asking if we were feeling Christmassy (we think he already knew the answer), he went into a bold and underreported take on the Ukrainian conflict, with “Riot Shield for Christmas” and “Kremlin Christmas Pantomime”, into witty and subtle dissections of the characters and political influences on the war. From “Putin the Movie”, pondering who would best play the Putin character and deciding on David Bowie, to “Back in the USSR” – baby you can drink my Vodka, the political ridiculousness of the conflict was wonderfully exposed. Andy also told us about when he almost bought a Hawaiian shirt, a self-referencing piece about when he first joined the DIY poets and felt he needed a fashion quirk to go with the ‘Street Sinatra’ of Frank or the “Hippy Earth Mother” of Clare. A sterling performance. Andy’s poems are definitely hot to Trotsky.

Then it was up to Ital Pip to play out the show. With his green acoustic guitar, harmonica and songs like “Storm in a Teacup”, via a proclamation of “Anyone that expresses from the heart is a very brave and honourable person”, it was impossible not to sway to the warming chords and wistful words while we finished our beers. Through songs inspired by an old mate called Phil, to covering Neil Young and Joe Strummer’s “Rock Art and the X Ray Style”, via a poem about trying to quit smoking, some words summed up the night. “Words can change the world”. Yes, indeed they can.

So that was pretty much that. We were silly and we were sombre. We were angry and we were amazed. Also, of course, were nice and we didn’t always rhyme.

Roll on February!

DIY POETS Quarterly Gig – November 2014

13 October, 2014 Andy Szpuk

By Frank McMahon:

Local bards DIY Poets present the latest in their quarterly nights of spoken word and music at the Maze. Featured poet is the fantastic Andy Szpuk, curator of the DIY Poets website. Acoustic music is provided by the wonderful Ital Pip.

£3 entry A bargain as always!

Vintage Poetry: ‘The Owl’ by Edward Thomas – discourse by Frank McMahon

26 September, 2014 Andy Szpuk

First World War Memorial, Gheluvelt Park, Worcester

The Owl is a poem written by Edward Thomas, one of the most celebrated of the poets writing about the First World War. Most of his poems are not directly about the trenches but the war features in a more oblique way.

It is a poem about both fulfilment and deprivation, and draws on Thomas’s experience of the front line. It is also a poem about the emotions of empathy and guilt.

The poet is tired, hungry and cold but he will get rest and reach the “sweetest thing under a roof”. His physical discomfort is temporary. The first word of the poem is “downhill”. He has completed the effort of climbing up the hill and things will be easier for him from now on. While the poet recuperates with warmth, rest and food he suddenly hears the owl’s cry, which is explicitly said to be “melancholy” and “no merry note” and penetrates the silence of the night. The owls cry reminds Thomas of the suffering he had undergone when he was on the hills but more so it reminds him of the more permanent greater suffering of those who could not escape. He says that he has “escaped”. The owl’s cry seems to represent his conscience and his capacity for empathy. The owl represents for Thomas “all who lay under the stars, soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice.”

Suddenly his food seems “salted”. This implies that he feels guilty about the suffering that he has escaped and other could not. He suddenly loses in some sense the pleasures of the inn.

I find the poem, which uses simple language, powerful, especially the wonderful metaphor of the sound of the owl in the night.

Frank McMahon

Edward Thomas: the owl.

Downhill I came, hungry, and yet not starved;

Cold, yet had heat within me that was proof

Against the North wind; tired, yet so that rest

Had seemed the sweetest thing under a roof.

Then at the inn I had food, fire, and rest,

Knowing how hungry, cold, and tired was I.

All of the night was quite barred out except

An owl’s cry, a most melancholy cry

Shaken out long and clear upon the hill,

No merry note, nor cause of merriment,

But one telling me plain what I escaped

And others could not, that night, as in I went.

And salted was my food, and my repose,

Salted and sobered, too, by the bird’s voice

Speaking for all who lay under the stars,

Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice.

DIY POETS Quarterly Gig Report – 14th August 2014

18 August, 2014 Andy Szpuk

Eagle Spits reports:

After brief introductions from Frank McMahon, founder of DIY poets, Poeticus Autisticus (AKA Trevor Wright) took the stage to deliver a finely tuned set with sharp wordage about subjects as diverse as time travel and drones. Often the political nature of some poets limit their vocabulary which reduces their work to propaganda as opposed to art. This is not the case with Poeticus who speaks the truth articulately and the message is delivered, well crafted and poignant.

Orla Shortall is a fine Irish lass who delivered a set of twisted love poetry in a broad accent. From women who are difficult to love to men who are difficult to love, with Victor Hugo references, golden chalices and magic mushrooms. A woman scorned with cutting wit. As Olga repeated the lines: “if you want to leave then leave”, nobody did because they were mesmerised. One of the poems was even written that afternoon at 2pm whilst in “the office” , ooooppps, never mind anything can be forgiven when poetry is this good.

Next we have the first poetry performance virginity loss of the evening, and how! Claire Louise stammered and stuttered, twitched and rocked as she delivered a poem about mania from a first person perspective. There was nothing wrong with the delivery. It was perfect for the subject matter and her movements were in all the right places. I will probably say awesome more than once in this review but that’s because it was the evening it was. “It will pass, it will pass, it will crash”. Claire Louise was awesome, brave, honest and awesome.

Beer and fag break, quick introduction, then Marty Everett. The smooth operator of the evening. Slick in a Bill Hicks kind of way with clever, truthful verse ,about the education system. About how in real life “failure is an option” and yes our children are being sold out. “don’t build statues of the thinking man, be the thinking man”. Marty’s “dragon dances” and we were moved.

The picture on tonight’s poster was of Dylan Thomas, our next poet’s hero. So John Humphries did a trio of related poems. The first being a rendition of Simply Red’s “Money;s Too Tight to Mention” (someone had pointed out the picture on the poster actually looked liked Mick Hucknall) in a posh BBC Dylan Thomas voice. Surreal. Next a rendition of a Dylan Thomas poem performed in a posh BBC Dylan Thomas accent. Surreal. Then a sonnet to Dylan Thomas performed in a posh BBC Dylan Thomas accent. Surreal. John Humphries was brilliant in his off kilter genius. Spot on, in a posh BBC Dylan Thomas accent.

Clare Stewart talks about dreams and red shoe minds. Reflections of Splendour at Woolerton Part. Empathic versifications on deafness. Hard metal and cut down trees. Life , death, compassion of an ethereal kind. Clare is in her poetry, invested and absolute. A set of quality verse gently spoken but scary nonetheless.

Frank McMahon donned with smart attire and pork pie hat verbalizes about not being concerned these days that he has lost his Morrisey quiff. Versed about biker friends who were more guardian angels than hell’s angels. Told rhythmic tales about navvies, football, Hurricane Higgins and a heart breaking poem full of Dr Who Imagery which finds Frank as a child hiding behind the sofa but not from Daleks but from his parents’ arguments. Totally eclectic in subject matter. Totally wondrous in verse.

A poet called Julian recited a poem about the loneliness and isolation of being a cyclist. The dangers of bad roads, careless drivers and total lack of respect cyclists receive from other road users, even pedestrians. The feelings of being despised and abused by bus drivers and drunk blokes on a night out. The poem was long but sharp. Attention keeping and angry. The props of bicycle and bell were incorporated. The tale was told, the message given and poetry of a high quality performed. It rang my bell.

Martin Grey was the headline poet of the evening. I first saw Martin several months ago and he was good. A young poet just starting out. Tonight he was fucking brilliant. One of the best poetry performance I have ever seen. Political in “All the bullets and all the bombs” in which shrapnel hits a young man in his head and he wonders if his mother is alive or dead. There was humour in his “Bread” poem, with tacky chat up lines based round puns about bread, I kid you not. His set had everything, heart break, anger, humour, “The Pretty Boys of G town” is a look back at his teenage years in Guilford and how history has a habit of repeating itself. It reminded me of a poetical version of Pete Seegers “Little Boxes” but with alcohol and chavs. Like I say, fucking brilliant.

Pegefo was the musician for the evening. Sweet, sweet music along the lines of Richard Thompson. One man, one acoustic guitar and a handful of beautiful songs. Unhinged love songs, ode to his mother. A lust for life conducted with serenity. “You think your something special do you”, a love song to the latest flame is one of those love songs which makes this old punk unashamed to like love songs. “not my bag” Pegefo introduced as an atheist anthem. I wonder if he felt the supernal nature of the music he plays. There was darkness, yet hope and encouragement running through his set. He even read a poem he wrote a few years ago. The second poetry virginity to be lost this evening.

Overall a great evening. The kind of evening one expects from DIY Poets. See you next time. (Eagle Spits).

DIY POETS Quarterly Gig – August 14th – The Maze, Nottingham

23 July, 2014 Andy Szpuk Comments 0 Comment

Pedestrian crossings can often cause an unhinged moment when a shopper, student, silver surfer or goofball (like me) arrive at them, wondering whether to press the button or take a chance on scampering across without pausing to follow the expected procedure. Could be a British thing, or maybe most people’s minds are pondering when the next DIY Poets gig might be. The latter is more likely. Unwittingly, DIY Poets can make a major contribution to road safety by revealing early doors when and where the verse will be spoken:

The featured poet Martin Grey is fresh from field studies in phonetics, punnery and one liners. He cruises through a diverse range of subjects, look out for his bread poem, he may try to sandwich it in somewhere. Grey’s anatomy of verse has the legs to make it a kicking night of rhyme (or free verse as the case may be).

And to complete a ‘safe’ night of entertainment, Pegefo and Marita provide the music.

The DIY Bards of May – Gig Report!

19 May, 2014 Andy Szpuk Comments 0 Comment

With the weather warming up, it felt as if spring was finally with us at last, poets jumping and the cotton high. A simply perfick scenario for another selection of verse from the eclectic collective that is DIY Poets.

Doors opened at 8:00 on Thursday 15th May, 2014 and a trickle of punters made their way into the Maze. At eight thirty, DIY Poets’ founder member and compere, Frank McMahon leapt on stage to inform us that, due to the delayed arrival of a couple of poets, the running order was to be changed. Seasoned campaigner John Humphries stepped into the breach. John is well known for lengthy intros to his poems and tonight was no different. He regaled us all with a tale of a recent visit to Speech Therapy, a regular poetry night in Nottingham. On that particular occasion, he told us he’d gone down there with the intention of delivering the darkest and most doom-laden verse he could, but as the evening progressed his plan was undone by the other poets delivering verse so dark he thought he must have fallen down a manhole. Not to be deterred, he upped the ante by prowling around the audience area of the venue reading his lines of verse directly into people’s faces and ended up rolling around on the floor, gibbering into a microphone whilst thrashing around like a one man literary apocalypse. It sounded amazing and I only wished I’d seen it at first hand. John opened his set with ‘Homespun’, a neatly sculpted piece about longing for a less complicated life. A great poem, which I’ve also had the privilege of seeing on the page – its simplicity belies the cleverness of its ‘hidden rhymes’ and countersunk wordplay. A great opening, thought-provoking as always.

He set the scene for what was to come . . .

Joel is a recent newcomer to the collective. His material was themed around borders and occupied a political space in very much a personal sense. It was a confident and compelling debut, with a short set delivering constructions which clicked together like the pieces of a brand new lego set. There was a fragility, combined with heartfelt honesty, and Joel’s performance was well-received, a terrific first appearance.

A Sole opened his set with a terrace style chant of his own name, and then kicked off with a selection of poems from yet another newly published poetry collection. Sole simply has to be the most prolific poet on the planet in a publishing sense. His verse skewers deep into the heart of the paradoxes and absurdities of present day life. He read with power and precision and was, as ever, uncompromisingly direct at times. I was reminded of a discussion we were involved in at the last DIY Poets meeting when I was attempting to explain and justify a veiled reference to testicles in one of my pieces – Sole commented, ‘I’m always writing about my balls, man.’ Check out A Sole’s website for his published works.

Orla’s selection, delivered with fiery intensity and clinical precision resulted in an almost surgical experience as poems with titles like ‘Hate Filled Poem’ and ‘Bike Brakes’ cut through the candle-lit, leather sofa clad atmosphere of a venue where an audience sat enthralled. She drops lyrical bombs.

Well, the cat flap was pushed open early when Lytisha arrived onstage to entrance an audience already held captive by the, at times, unhinged range of rhythmic recital already read out. Her elegant feline purr flowed, always voluptuous. With poems such as ‘Swans Have Been Seen on Radar at 21ooo Feet’ in her repertoire, there was always an intrigue.

‘A Lefty Must Do What a Lefty Must Do’ insisted Martin Grey (aka @towelintherain), and proceeded to pour forth on the pains experienced by people who are left hand dominant, with plenty of support from a smattering of left handers in the audience. Martin’s delivery punched with the weight of a Carl Froch left jab – always hitting the target. The audience lapped it up, and the injections of comedy between rounds of lyrical sparring made for a heavyweight performance. He concluded his set by dipping into some extended punnery with ‘That’s Enough of That’. A top performance, fresh towels please!

Fully aware that not everyone is a football fan, I nonetheless opened my set with ‘Kevin Keegan Perm’ and ‘When the Sheepskin Coat Was King’, reminiscences of days gone by. Then, I diverged into my current commentary on the Ukraine crisis with ‘Olympians Ski Down Russian Slopes While Kyiv Burns’, concluding with ‘Vladimir Putin Sings Eurovision’. Certainly a cathartic evening for me!

A ‘Grey Squirrel’ appeared to keep the cats company, as Clare Stewart dug out several silvery sweet nuts for the audience to chew on. A commanding presence, Clare’s voice is always compelling, her material thoughtful. She concluded with a ‘found’ poem, an overheard exchange between a mother and child:’I DON’T CARE! I DON’T CARE! I DON’T CARE!’

North Korean dictators never ever attend DIY Poets performances, but Frank McMahon does his best to represent them, mainly by over-obsessing over his bike lights, making sure they’re in his jacket pocket when he arrives on stage. The bike lights are used to signal when a poet has reached the end of his/her allotted time on stage – the ‘White Light of Enlightenment’ signals a minute to go, and the ‘Red Light of Shame’ needs no further explanation. Frank’s set focussed on music and included poems about Syd Barrett, Slade and the Pogues, plenty of social commentary and observations delivered in his usual understated tones. Excellent.

As the featured poet, Jim Willis played it loose, certainly from the point of view of locations – we woke up in Venice, and also found ourselves needing sustenance in ‘Cafe Ingles’. We got lucky in the sense that Jim’s promise to recite poems about cats came alive, but unfortunately not nine times. We heard ‘Snow Cats’ and ‘Rock Cats’, but there was something more . . . Jim revealed a plan: to release a collection of cat poems entitled ‘Furry Tales’. Jim even managed to engage the audience towards the end of his set, we all sang along to the chorus of ‘Wet Welly Weather No Cricket Blues’. A grand performance.

The evening was concluded with music from Jezz Hall. Mellow grooves.

DIY Poets Quarterly Gig at The Maze, Nottingham

7 May, 2014 Andy Szpuk Comments 0 Comment

Featured poet on this occasion is the wonderful, evergreen Jim Willis. Jim’s granite Edinburgh tones deliver his butterfly light stanzas across a vista of verse with steel elegance. He originally developed an interest in poetry when attending Leith Academy, now turned into flats. Jim likes to link his poems, no matter how tenuous that link might be, and without any semblance of order. Jim will be exploring three main themes: music, holidays and cats – the order guaranteed to be random! Music is provided by folk based singer song writer Jezz Hall. 8 til late. £3 entry, A bargain!

STOP PRESS: Sources close to DIY Poets have revealed today that Frank McMahon will be debuting a happy poem.

Poet Profile: Martin Grey

23 February, 2014 Andy Szpuk Comments 0 Comment

I’ve written poetry for over ten years, but am still quite new to the stage. When not moonlighting as a daydreaming wageslave, I spend my time performing, travelling, attempting to learn Spanish, being skint and using poetry as a wonderful excuse to eat cake in cafes. I see poetry as an art that we can all be part of. Not only is it one of the most inexpensive hobbies you’ll ever have (all you need is a pen and the back of an envelope), but it’s ingrained in who we are and what we do, from every roof tile to every rejection via every fight for fairness and justice. It’s inspiring, relaxing, and is also my unhinged therapist, with mixed results. Wandering between silly, emotive, satirical and political, my poetry is more of a compulsion than a hobby and I’m very excited to see where it takes me. So I hope to see you at a gig soon and I hope you buy my album when it comes out later this year. In the meantime, see my blog:

Martin Grey’s Blog – ‘Towel in the Rain’

DIY Poets

We're nice and we don't always rhyme

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