Poetry: Penny Secrets

So, after 366 days, my final Penny Secret went live at lunchtime.

My first reaction is: phew!

My second reaction is: thank god I won't have to try and think of another senryu for a while to come.

Truth be told, I can't remember quite why I decided to start writing these, a year ago. I think it was mainly because my dad bought me a diary for my birthday, and the spaces on the pages were the perfect size for something haiku-like.

The 'infraordinary' stuff came from Georges Perec. I must have been reading 'An Attempt At Exhausting A Place In Paris' at the time, and I wanted to attempt something similar, in terms of observing hard, and then distilling what I see.

I managed that at times, and quite clearly, at others I missed that brief by miles. I'm pretty sure that there are more than I would have really liked about the fact that I hadn't written one that day, or I was about to miss my deadline.

Truth be told, I did miss my daily allowance on a few occasions, but only a few, three or so I think, which for a year-long project I think is pretty good going. And I always made good the gap. Apart from on 12 October.

Plus I had a break through about six months in, when I worked out that I could edit the Tumblr post so that I didn't give away the whole poem in a tweet.

I haven't quite yet processed the fact that, with this project, and whatever else I managed this year, it's meant  I've written close to 400 poems over the 12 months. No wonder I'm a bit dry.

What happens next with them I also haven't decided. It'd be nice for them to exist in some form of paper or hard copy. But I haven't decided what form that might take. Suggestions most welcome.

And if even one of them has provided a moment of fleeting joy, then my work this year has been done.

So, farewell then, Berners Street

Alack alas woe &c. After five years and ten months, I take my leave of ais London today.

To say it has been a blast is an understatement. I've had the opportunity to work on crazy stuff like so. And so. And so.

And people have still been willing to talk to me after my frequent temper tantrums. Clearly a forgiving, talented bunch.

The next adventure starts on January 2nd. I'll tell you about it then.