26/08/2026
I love going to open-mic poetry nights and hearing other people’s wonderful words, witnessing their bravery as they get on stage to share them. I’ve attended many times, sitting appreciatively in the audience. But I finally had to acknowledge that if you’re going to greedily consume other people’s creativity, it’s only right that you should contribute by having the courage to share some of your own.
So last night I stood on the stage at the Indus Supper Club event that was brilliantly MC’d by Michael M. Clements for Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2026, and read my poem, “Kiss the Hand”.
This is a long video - at 3.5 minutes, it won’t be promoted by IG, and I don’t expect many people will watch it - but I wanted to leave it here as a reminder to myself that I should feel the fear and do it anyway. Words are the tools by which I understand the lives of other people, and I want to thank them for their generosity by also asking that they carefully cradle some of mine. 💕
