I recently found Aidan Andrew Dun's Ode to a Postbox on the Guardian unlimited website.

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The poem is a great example of what can be produced through contemplation of a single, perhaps initially uninspiring, object. The scope of this poem is particularly awe-inspiring. Its podcast on the Guardian website is an impressive 14 minutes long.

It's great to have the writelink site back up again. My nerves about reading some of my poems at a town festival today were also helped by reading the latest writelink newsletter this morning and finding out I'd won the folding mirror poetry contest. Hurrah!

This year's festival was a great experience for me, in fact. Not only was it much bigger than last year but we also had super weather so it was very well attended. The town was heaving!

Poetry is, I guess, rather a specialised taste. But the difference between reading at this year's festival compared to the town's Christmas lights switch on was astounding. I've now made a note to myself not to agree to read poetry outside in the freezing cold. People are much more likely to stop and listen on a busy, sunny day. Plus it's much more enjoyable to read in such weather!

The children had a good time with bouncy castles, doughnuts, hot dogs, ice creams, Roman soldiers, belly dancers and lots of their friends around. I don't usually write children's poetry but it was nice to read aloud a poem I wrote for my four year old. Although rather embarrassed (he is quite shy!), I think he was rather pleased. Well, it definitely beats his usual "Stop writing mummy, I hate poetry!"