Category Archives: Thoughts

Thoughts, ideas, rants, etc…

There is a light. How poetry is helping us find hope this week in Manchester

Posted on May 27, 2017 by Ian O'Brien

I teach English in an inner-city Manchester school. It’s been a tough week. Monday night’s terrorist attack created a backdrop of sirens, questions and uncertainty. Our school is as diverse as the wider city, we have a palette of pupils from … Continue reading →

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For the love of Love On The Dole: A love-letter to Walter Greenwood, via my granddad. And Morrissey

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Ian O'Brien

I’m a firm believer that books wait for you. Like fishing in reverse, they let you pick them, pull them down from the shelf, let you start them, let you in, sometimes let you devour them in a single sitting; … Continue reading →

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Syrian Snow

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Ian O'Brien

Syrian snow lands on homes, roofless bones of brick. It lands on barbed wire fences, photographed in yesterday’s news. Syrian snow falls on the boats of those whose only chance is to go. It lands in Greece, in Munich, in … Continue reading →

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Butterfly Stitch

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Ian O'Brien

Manchester, 1987. It’s December, last day of term. We’re in the bathroom. My mother has me in a loving headlock and is brushing my teeth ferociously. I am seven. My older brother sits on the edge of the bath, awaiting … Continue reading →

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Fantastico: In Praise of Longfella and Project-Based Learning

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Ian O'Brien

Poetry, as I explained to the class, was never a real thing for me, as a schoolkid. For us, poets didn’t exist. They lived only in dusty books on that shelf of the library that nobody could reach. So, to … Continue reading →

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Calcium 

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Ian O'Brien

Today is Manchester Day. This is a poem I wrote about the way the city stays with you, even (as in this case) as you leave it, it will draw you back.    

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A Wave

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Ian O'Brien

     A Wave I look down at the line that the tide has left, darkening the pebbles as it retreats back into its unlocked line of defence. The dry stones are almost white, salt bleached, amnesiac. The wet ones … Continue reading →

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The Bus — Paul Kirchner

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Ian O'Brien

Originally posted on Biblioklept:
Love this cartoon by Paul Kirchner that I just found on wordpress. Obviously very talented! Who knows – maybe we’re all in that toy shop… Biblioklept View original post

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There Is A Light

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Ian O'Brien

Just listened to Mike Garry talking about the Smiths on Radio 4 (check out his blog godisamanc.wordpress.com.) Got me thinking about the first time I heard the Smiths. Just left this response on Mike’s page: I don’t know what I’m … Continue reading →

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Remembering Suzy Boardman

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Ian O'Brien

Suzy was my best friend. We met whilst training to be teachers at university and like everyone I immediately gravitated towards her enormous personality. She lit a room with her laugh. A natural storyteller, she had everyone in stitches with her anecdotes. In … Continue reading →

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