Has anyone else discovered David Whyte? Ellie Swoop and I first met him at Ledbury Poetry Festival in 2008. He is an inspirational poet. During his performance, in which he read his poetry in a very different way, he captivated us both.
He reads his poems very slowly to give you time to digest them and he repeats lines which he wants to emphasise. He's also very charismatic and has a wonderful voice. He must have impressed me for me to shell out £20 on his book ‘River Flow – New and Selected Poems 1984-2007’, Many Rivers Press, 2007, ISBN 1932887172, which he signed for me. I have read this large volume word for word and highlighted my favourites with tabs.
In fact, I was so impressed I also purchased one of his audio books, ‘Midlife and the Great Unknown’ and I listen to it at the gym. His voice is so soothing and his words ring the right bells for me and leave me feeling uplifted. He does poetry workshops for businesses all over the world.
My favourite lines have to be:
‘anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.’
Extract from Sweet Darkness.
You can read a selection of his poems at http://www.davidwhyte.com/english.html
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