The title was inspired by a Y6 boy at Maltby Manor J.S., near Rotherham. After I'd performed some poems and was getting ready to leave, he said,
"Mr Smith, will you sing us another poem, please?"
Mike self-publishes, thereby keeping absolute control of all aspects of the publishing process ... and rarely does he reject himself ....
Previously he published as The Adam Press, after his Dad Adam Blythe Smith: the image in the Adam Press logo is of Pinfold Cottage, Bainton, near Driffield, where Mike's family lived for a long time, and was drawn/painted by his Dad.
"I do not want to leave Nigeria. I would miss the warmth, the vigour, the vitality and the humour of the people. I would miss the rhythm, the colours and the sounds of the streets. It is Poverty and Corruption which must leave. They do not belong here."
A Nigerian Teacher
Erstwhile 'Lovers of Poetry' should be aware that they enter this book at their own risk and no reponsibility can be taken by the author for subsequent damage to the sensitivities, sensibilities or dignity of any reader.
It took Mike three months to think of this title! In his defence it was meant to promote the idea that we might leave plenty of photographs for family when we die but why not leave 'written' photos? He says he used the word 'verse' because he didn't dare call it poetry....
All on CD - see below
Mike's first public performance was at the then Gate Arts Centre in Goole. The inset photo is of Mike's Dad from whom Mike seems to have inherited a natural inclination for rhythm and rhyme.
His Dad called it doggerel, but he probably 'undersold' himself!
Mike's specs are definitely rose-tinted as he reflects on the nature of the game of cricket in light of watching the first day of The Ashes against Australia at Edgbaston in 2005.
But it's an entertaining poem which captures the uniqueness of this 'strange' game.
Ordinarily Speaking £5
First published, 2002
The Tree & 29 Other Poems £5
First published, 2005
Sing Another Poem £6
First published, 2006
Mike's Poems £5 First published, 1998
'Mike's Poems' Double CD £10
First published, 1998
In Performance CD £5
First published, 2002
How's That?! For A Game?! £2
First published, 2005
mikesmith@mypostoffice.co.uk
'Rhythm & Rhyme - With Time for a Song'
For audiences of all ages
Ordering and Enquiries
Payment is by invoice, sent with your order, and can be settled via cash, cheque or Bank Transfer.
mikesmith@mypostoffice.co.uk 01430 431488 / 07866 259826
Mike Smith
mikesmith@mypostoffice.co.uk
Pump up the language!
Five
Family Fairy Tales
2019
£6
Christmas Fireside Stories -
In Verse -
2020
£4
MOST RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
A Tale Of Two Lock-Downs
Poems arising
from the pandemic ...
October, 2020-March, 2021
£7
Dreaming Of Onions
Poems arising
from the pandemic ...
March-June, 2020
£10
Are We Nearly There Yet?
I'm afraid I don't know!!
March-Christmas, 2021
£7
PUBLICATIONS
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