Bewildering Stories Discusses

Finding My Voice

with John Stocks

“Finding My Voice” appears in this issue.

[John S.]“Finding My Voice” is a poem about ‘exploding into consciousness’, how my very ordinary, small North Midlands ex-home town of Worksop — a place I have been visiting a lot recently as it forms the backdrop for a novel, a history book and a beer re-creation project — inspired me to think poetically about the mundane things around me. D.H. Lawrence nails the region, within twenty miles or so. The voice I find is my poetic one, the joy in the beauty of simple things.

[Don W.] Thank you, John... I’m sure that all who are familiar with your poetry will nod in agreement and think, “Yes, that is exactly what your voice is. And perhaps it hasn’t been ‘found’ so much as recognized for what it’s always been.”

Some readers might wish that the poem were accompanied by photos of Worksop. Fair enough; the poem provokes interest, and despite the hard life depicted in the poem, we might like to go there — if only virtually — out of sympathy.

But photos often have a way of becoming dated and linked to a time and place. A poem like “Finding My Voice” does not have that problem.