-o- AyeWright• Show poetry

Born 1956 in Scotland, grew up mostly near Edinburgh. Moved to Rome in 1972 and lived there til 1976. Off to Texas for a degree (Journalism) and a summer job in Houston that lasted for 11 years. Moved to my (now ex-)wife's native Belize in 1990, where I taught high school English 8 years. By 1998 many factors collaborated and collided, including divorce, and I returned to Scotland. Still there. Began writing verse in about 1967, and doodled with words in the crude, cliched, didactic, make-it-rhyme-regardless way of the adolescent. A more idiosyncratic voice developed, and a move from that now quite painful youthful verse to the stirrings of more accomplished, richer poetry occurred during the Rome years. The wordplay has continued and visit my websight (www.AyeWright.com) for some of the results. I'm not a particularly disciplined writer; I'm one to wait for inspiration and a visit from a Muse rather than see writing as a task or a job with so many hours dedicated to it each week. My teaching spell helped me, if not the students, in the craft of poetry - it did help my own work to have studied the elements, I found. But I essentially see poetry as a purely creative art, and I can't, or prefer not to, force it. As a result, like many writers, I've had writing drouths over the years - some events seem to plug the poetic flow, yet others will open a floodgate. And inspiration can come in many forms - it is surprising what can be a catalyst for new work. Once an idea has formed, the words yearn to be borne to paper (I still mostly write longhand manuscripts to begin with), and for me the act of writing is almost meditative. I write in various styles, as you'll find when you browse through some of the work on the websight. My adolescent loathing of free and blank verse thankfully passed; in many respects these forms surpass rhymings. I still like to challenge myself though with an intricate scheme of rhyme and meter, usually these days in one of my idiosyncratic sonnets. But perhaps my favourite form is haiku. Over the years, I've also dabbled in songwriting - you'll find a substantial Lyrics section at the websight - and I enjoy the marriage of word and melody, and bringing my poetics into song.