Never has Earsham been so lauded.

There’s a reason you rarely see my work on the Web. When you send work to publishers or competitions, their rules normally stipulate that the work must not have been published elsewhere, including paper books and online. This entry is a rare exception.
On Friday 23rd May, I had the privilege to see Rally & Broad, Luke Wright, Lake Montgomery and Alan Bissett for the second time, plus others for the first time. At the event, the organisers ran a Poetry Bingo competition, encouraging the audience to circle off twelve words as they heard them in the show. In addition, there was a challenge to use these twelve words in an original poem, and the winner would receive a ticket to the last show of the season. I’m pleased to report I was one of three winners, and my effort is below.

Note that the last four lines are slightly incorrect because my handwriting was terrible, but I actually quite like the published version. Those few words lend it a different tone. The correct words are:

He could make up the
how, where, why and when of it.
So the unknown rescuer
could keep his sickness benefit.

See which one you prefer.