What can you tell us about this poem?
“Sweetheart” is about my paternal grandfather, and about inheritance, memory and absence. The RAF-issued sweetheart ring originally belonged to my grandmother and was given to me when I was six, after she died. I have carried it with me ever since, usually on a necklace. I was very close to my grandfather growing up, and the poem holds the grief of losing him alongside the more complicated grief of estrangement from my father.
What poets and poems are you in dialogue with?
I wrote “Sweetheart” as part of a series of poems using a modern sonnet form, after reading frank: sonnets by Diane Seuss. I draw inspiration from poets such as Tony Harrison, particularly in the use of objects and language that are specific to class and place — the word gip, for example, being characteristic of Northern English dialect. I also tend to undercut myself with humour or self-deprecation when my writing begins to lean too sentimental, and I connect with that impulse in Philip Larkin’s work, particularly “Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album”.
What poem do you wish you’d written?
“Having a Coke With You” by Frank O’Hara, which I know almost verbatim. It feels effortless, intimate and alive in a way I’m always chasing in my own writing.
in the warm New York 4 o’clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles
— Frank O’Hara, “Having a Coke With You”
What drew you to writing poetry?
A good friend took me to a reading at York Literature Festival a few years ago, which I absolutely loved. It sparked a passion for poetry and writing in me — and it turns out I have quite a lot to say.
What song helps us get to know you better?
Blues on the Ceiling, by Karen Dalton.