Helen Sheppard
You’d think after 30 years I would have learnt how to sleep
When candles melt, the fuck does the wax go?
Seriously where does the wax go when the candle burns? Help!
So shall I fetch you
The dog Star
He always thought the dog was his friend
Ducks and penguins aren’t always friends.
The cat was not amused
Daddy told me I should have cleaned up after that donkey crapped all over my forehead!
Later in the car dad will insist it was ketchup and I will wonder if he thinks I’m stupid.
Is anger counterproductive?
I saw a photo of this ship moored down at King’s Street today, 40 years ago. I don’t want to move that slowly.
Bro it’s only two inches, chill
I wanna get railed
I have legs and I love them
But I don’t know if I like it
I have to build a relationship but not for sex, all for your best interests
I love you but I want my nipples back
I’m in a booby prison
Even moderation is good in moderation
Life is about balance: 50% Namaste. 50% Fuck off!
It’s all about the midfield
The death of words is not a tragedy.
I’m feeling stressed my bum is itchy
Should I stop trying to make my brother turn gay?
www.solpoetry.org.uk
The trees reabsorb their chlorophyll and make autumn fire
They sang this on Glee.
Don’t let the fiery leaves fall and quietly fade without truly noticing their artwork
To Dads and Nans and Friends in ships
Your bed becomes a crucible for my dreams
The ginger beer bubbles scratch my throat, it feels almost as good as an orgasm
Tag: Satellite Of Love
Satellite of Love Hosts: Poetry Film Club
January 14th 7pm on the John Sebastian Lightship
New Year. New Makers. New approaches. This month’s poetry film club showcases some new poetry film makers, Tara Arkle and Stacey Pottinger from Bath Spa University. We will also be screening some films in the Welsh language.
As usual there will be plenty of opportunities for discussion and sharing.
Entry requirements: no age restrictions
Satellite of Laughs: January 22nd 2025
Our headliner this month: Tim Munson on the Lightship
Support: Samuel L Cohen
Doors open 7pm. Open mic starts 7.30pm
Tim Munson regularly performs in and around the seedy under belly of Bristol’s poetry scene. And can often be found looking bewildered and checking his emails whilst stood in the rain outside cancelled poetry gigs.
His work tackles heavyweight subjects, such as:
Can pork scratchings really be considered food?
Is my father in law actually a Nazi?
and the age old existential question
Will primula cheese bring about the next mass extinction?
Tim has the dubious honour of coming third in almost every poetry competition in the south west of England.
Entry requirements: no age restrictions (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult over 21yrs, 1:1 ratio)
Samuel L Cohen is a multidisciplinary Theatre Maker, award-winning Poet and Instigator of Bristol’s cabaret night RIOT ACT.
An erstwhile scholar of Ancient History led astray by his love for clowning, he is fascinated by the hidden stories (both real and imagined) that underpin
everyday life, and crafts work which celebrates the timeless absurdities that make us human.
A high-octane lyrical raconteur of the hilarious, the unbelievable and the downright outrageous, Sam joyfully discovered in poetry a means to interrogate and finally understand life’s great many true stories which defy
rational explanation. High literary and magical realist worlds collide with the everyday grit of modern urban life as he as he attempts to make sense of the senseless, armed only with a microphone and a flair for the irresistible riotous humour of his native Bristol.
Most recently, he has founded RIOT ACT- a
multidisciplinary club night of open mic fun, with the joint missions to celebrate the people of Bristol and their
stories whilst finding new ways to stick it to The Man with laughter.
Buckle up.
This is poetry to party to. The more raucously, the better.
Satellite of Love: January 22nd 2025
We kick off the new year with
Satellite of Laughs
Further details coming soon.
Community Poem September 2024
The clitoris of a mature woman can be a word or compilation, the path chosen and choices she made determine what she wants to write.
Oh, fuck a duck
The lobster laughed.
I butchered my poem
And then it changed colour and fell off
and they never grow back properly
You outrageous bastards
I hope I’m not just an open micer to you guys,
but also a subject for your next confused wet dream
I wish I were a fairy
This too will pass
A hot water urn full of lukewarm piss. Disappointing on both counts
For someone who heard so little he deduced so much
Wait where is this all going?
Something stupid, something like… Turbo island glitter ball
Fill your guts with star shaped Hernia Discopline stick
Like a moth to a flame Eve was not the only one tempted
where there’s smoke there’s fire. And it all fades away
I despise the man, the father I envy. You had the life I wanted.
Train-wreck into the blue, never thought I’d be here without you
Does the middle brick in the tunnel know about the light?
Live, laugh, triangulate
barking dogs don’t bite
I dream of love. Now love dreams of me
I’m doing a good job reading this on stage.
I am brave. Give me applause please.
Satellite of Love Hosts: Poetry Film club
Images and Film 19th November 7pm on the lightship
This month’s poetry film club looks at the relationship between images and words.
In the first half we are all going to make a poetry film by adding words to ‘Seven Risings’, a film created by artist Ben Glatt and composer and musician John Pendlington. This is going to be a fun and interesting way of understanding how the words work with the images!
In the second half we will view the new film and also a trio of poetry films made in collaboration with Lucy English and various filmmakers for her Book of Hours project. All these films were inspired in someway by visual images.
As usual there will be time for discussion, and creative exchanges.
Satellite of Love: Wendy Allen & Catherine Balaq. November 27th
This November Satellite presents a headline double bill
Doors open on the John Sebastian Lightship at 7pm, open mic starts 7.30pm
Wendy Allen
Wendy Allen’s debut pamphlet, Plastic Tubed Little Bird, was published in 2023 by Broken Sleep. She is a PhD candidate at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her pamphlet, Portrait in Mustard will be published in October 2024 by Seren.
Catherine Balaq
Catherine Balaq is a writer and body psychotherapist. Her work has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and nominated for the Pushcart and Forward Prize.
In 2022 Catherine was a recipient of The Poetry School MA scholarship. Her poetry play ‘Fuck the Moon’ was commissioned by Paper Nations and short-listed for the Bristol Old Vic Open Sessions 2019.
She is co-editor of Black Cat Press. Her debut collection ‘animaginary’ was published in July 2023 and was nominated for the Seamus Heaney Prize for first collection and the Pen Heaney Prize. Her second collection ‘Deathless‘ is published with Verve. Catherine also writes novels.
Community Poem June 2024
If They Hadn’t Written This Would You Have?
(Shouted) Derek! They’ve stolen the geraniums again
that’s the biggest I’ve ever seen
You’ve snatched the world up of precious solitude which you have been craving for so long and realised it was in fact loneliness
A life of collaborative A Level anxiety
Isn’t it rude to leave at the interval after you’ve read every fucking time
leaving behind nothing but the faint whiff of an old fart?
Liberation for Palestine is liberation for us all. Ask yourself what you are doing at this moment
If I hadn’t written this would have you?
I spent the day horizontal in the park
Please improvise this line and don’t just read out this
To be cringe is to be free, apart from if you’re me right now in this exact situation
There is nothing so bloody wonderful as genuine warmth and encouragement, and there is so much love here
Rim Tim Tag I dim
But to see you again would destroy the memory
Marz
Satellite of Love: Joelle Taylor, Bradley Taylor
September 25th 2024 at the Loco Klub
Doors open 7pm open mic starts 7.30pm
VENUE CHANGE
This month Satellite of Love’s open mic and headliner session is relocating to the Loco Klub at Temple Meads. The venue is fully accessible.
A Tale of Two Taylors
Joelle Taylor is the author of 4 collections of poetry. Her most recent collection C+NTO & Othered Poems won the 2021 T.S Eliot Prize, and the 2022 Polari Book Prize for LGBT authors. C+NTO is currently being adapted for theatre with a view to touring. She is a co- curator and host of Out-Spoken Live at the Southbank Centre, and tours her work nationally and internationally in a diverse range of venues, from Australia to Brazil. She is also a Poetry Fellow of University of East Anglia and the curator of the Koestler Awards 2023. She has judged several poetry and literary prizes including Jerwood Fellowship, the Forward Prize, and the Ondaatje Prize. Her novel of interconnecting stories The Night Alphabet will be published by Riverrun in Spring of 2024. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and the 2022 Saboteur Spoken Word Artist of the Year. Her most recent acting role was in Blue by Derek Jarman, which was directed by Neil Bartlett and featured Russell Tovey, Jay Bernard, and Travis Alabanza. Blue sold out its run across the UK and more dates are expected for the future.
Bradley Taylor
Bradley is the winner of Satellite’s recent Summer Slam.
When we asked Bradley for a bio, all he wrote was:
‘Bradley Taylor (he/him) is a poet from Birmingham. Apologies.’
I’ve Been Looking Everywhere For You – The Launch
Jemma Hathaway Book Launch Friday 7th June Doors 7pm for 7.30pm on the Lightship
Jemma Hathaway likes to put words next to one another and see if they hit it off. Her poems have been featured on BBC Radio Bristol, BBC iPlayer and @bbc on Instagram. Jemma is a multiple slam-winner, was the 2020 Hammer & Tongue champion for Bristol and is a Button Poetry Short Form contest winner.
Jemma has supported Joelle Taylor, Jasmine Gardosi and Roger McGough, performed at the Royal Albert Hall and appeared on Sky Arts Life & Rhymes. She self-published her first poetry pamphlet, January in 2021. Her poems are a sticky dancefloor for the ongoing dance-off between her head and her heart. She hopes you like her moves.
About The Book
I’ve been looking everywhere for you is full of big four-letter things – life, love, loss, time and ultimately, hope. It’s a book of hellos and goodbyes, bad days and blessings, it is a healing and a homecoming … and it hopes to come home with you.
These poems take us from melanin to mountains, from stars to submarines, from hard times to soft words and set us down somewhere in that healing space between far-off galaxies and close-up magic.
This collection longs to be read in a different light – the light of midnight porches, of torches beneath blankets, of lighthouses that exist solely to warn you away from the rocks. All the lights that say, there you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.
‘Big things happen in small moments, writes Jemma Hathaway, and proceeds to show us just how much life can be found stuffed in the cracks of our existence.
Casting a witty, irreverent eye over the subject of her poems, Jemma chooses a playful touch which enables her to explore serious subjects without ever feeling worthy or preachy. The collection doesn’t shy away from the world’s sharp edges- racial microaggressions, homophobia, grief and mental health are some of the things she touches upon- but remains ultimately and defiantly hopeful.
The imagery swings between the expansive and the everyday, where melanin holds light like Galileo’s telescope holds the moon and Queer lives are singing kettles. Throughout, Jemma reminds the reader that love in all its various, ridiculous, wonderful forms exists in the most mundane of places.’ Kat Lyons
‘Jemma Hathaway is a beacon of light guiding you back home to yourself. Her collection is unapologetically itself and encourages you to be the same. Metaphors and similes soar, seeking to be deciphered into insightful notes of acceptance, reminding you you’re alive, and deservedly so. A vivid, compelling and compassionate collection.’ Jemima Hughes
Jemma will be supported on the night by three fantastic poets from the South-West:
Kathryn O’Driscoll
Kathryn O’Driscoll is a queer, disabled poet, mentor and editor from Bath. She was the 2021 U.K. Poetry Slam Champion and a World Slam Finalist. She was longlisted for the Disabled Poets Prize and the Outspoken Prize for Performance Poetry in 2023, and the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Artist in 2022. In 2021 she was one of the featured poets on the (BAFTA winning) Sky Arts spoken word TV show Life and Rhymes. Her debut collection ‘Cliff Notes’ is available from Verve Poetry Press.
Jo Eades
Since her first performance set at the inaugural Hotwells Festival of words in 2021, Jo has become a regular on the Bristol spoken word scene. She has been featured four times on BBC Radio Upload, performed on the Milk Poetry stage at Valleyfest and was headliner for Heron Books anniversary celebration last Christmas. In 2023 she won both a Rhyme Against the Tide and Milk Poetry Slam and in April this year, won the Lyra Poetry Festival Grand Slam.
Jaidah
Jaidah’s written & spoken works are undeniably compelling, ask questions of us collectively & hold the primary focus of advocating alongside promoting human welfare & connection.
Jaidah’s journey into writing started 3 years ago in a sanctuary of solitude, which stimulated vastly journeying the world within herself & most importantly she has been inspired by listening to the language nature speaks.
Vulnerable yet powerful Jaidah’s quiet commanding presence & delivery are outward reaching & embody a courage built through her own hard-won experience. Continuously thought provoking, her words are colourful & within those colours live the essence of divine human nature.