Matthew Stewart

As parents, we're supposed to remember the first time we did stuff with our kids, but the last time is equally as significant, if not more.

This poem is from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...

UK poetry lovers - you'd be silly to miss out on this offer #poetry #uk #poetryuk

Poets, if they're lucky, end up having signature poems. But they don't choose them for themselves.

Instead, certain poems take on lives of their own once they're published. The Last Carry is one such example. When I first posted it here, I didn't have a clue it would reach so many people...

Certain numbers accompany us through our lives, connected to our memories of people and places, of significant events. What numbers remain with you decades later? And why?

This poem is taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...

MIchael Bartholomew-Biggs reviews Richard Meier's new collection from HappenStance for London Grip...

londongrip.co.uk/2025/10/lond...

MIchael Bartholomew-Biggs reviews Richard Meier's new collection from HappenStance for London Grip...

londongrip.co.uk/2025/10/lond...

The passive voice too often plays an unintended role when contemporary poetry loses its musical drive and/or semantic clarity. However, when deployed on purpose with a specific aim in mind, it's an extremely useful tool...

If we don't use our small poetry presses, we'll lose them. This is why I refuse to flinch or shy from asking you to purchase a copy of Whatever You Do, Just Don't, my second full collection.

Here's a sample poem from the book. Just drop me a DM and I'll sort out a signed copy for you...

If anyone fancies a copy, I'll be in the U.K. this coming week, which will make postage even easier and quicker...!

If anyone fancies a copy, I'll be in the U.K. this coming week, which will make postage even easier and quicker...!

Copy by copy, every hard-earned sale of a poetry collection is an act of trust, a contract between the poet and the reader that reaches far beyond cash. This is why I refuse to shy away from reminding you about Whatever You Do, Just Don't.

Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you...

If the poet selects an impersonal passive voice, they should be aware that they are creating implicit questions and doubts for the reader. If they aren't conscious of this fallout, communication may begin to fail...

If the poet selects an impersonal passive voice, they should be aware that they are creating implicit questions and doubts for the reader. If they aren't conscious of this fallout, communication may begin to fail...

Rogue Strands reflects on the use of the passive voice in contemporary poetry...

roguestrands.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...

The passive voice too often plays an unintended role when contemporary poetry loses its musical drive and/or semantic clarity. However, when deployed on purpose with a specific aim in mind, it's an extremely useful tool...

Rogue Strands reflects on the use of the passive voice in contemporary poetry...

roguestrands.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...

This is a poem of loss, taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023)...

Thanks, Sarah, that fight to remember numbers is also invoked in another poem of mine that's posted on here (just below this one)...

Syllabics aren't a mathematical exercise. They also require an understanding of stress if they're to come alive.

For the, the key question is whether that letter would have been written if funding had been flowing freely.

Poetry in English possesses two separate but intertwined beats. First of all, the stresses. And secondly, underneath those stresses, the syllables. The subtle latter are often drowned out by the strident former. But if you listen hard enough, the syllabics are there, underpinning everything.

Did you see the "Open Letter on the Future of Small Press Publishing in the U.K", posted widely yesterday and signed by numerous publishers...? Wondered what you thought about it...

Syllabics aren't a mathematical exercise. They also require an understanding of stress if they're to come alive.

Poetry in English possesses two separate but intertwined beats. First of all, the stresses. And secondly, underneath those stresses, the syllables. The subtle latter are often drowned out by the strident former. But if you listen hard enough, the syllabics are there, underpinning everything.

I have the impression that 99% of poetry publishers and poets loathe and feel creatively sullied by the process of shifting books.

It's absurd, of course. Like a chef who hates serving meals. Or a winemaker who can't stand pouring you a glass...

I only want a single pair of hands to stretch my spine and open me at last...

My esteemed publisher (Nell at HappenStance) informs me that the Whatever You Do, Just Don't express train is fast approaching Reprint City. Yay!

However, in the meantime, both she and I still have some copies of the first print run available for purchase. You know where to find us...!

My second full collection, Whatever You Do, Just Don't, was supposed to be HappenStance Press' last publication, though Nell left the door ajar in case something special came up. Well, it did, in the shape of Richard Meier's new book, After the Miracle, born from a huge sense of vital urgency...

My second full collection, Whatever You Do, Just Don't, was supposed to be HappenStance Press' last publication, though Nell left the door ajar in case something special came up. Well, it did, in the shape of Richard Meier's new book, After the Miracle, born from a huge sense of vital urgency...

Rogue Strands on Richard Meier's After the Miracle...

"In these poems, apparently simple words portray a maelstrom of life events. They provide a lesson in how to meet intense experience head-on, and turn it into art..."

roguestrands.blogspot.com/2025/10/rich...