In the seventies school friend, artist and band member Rych and I worked on the production line of a major car company to get money to buy new gear: an electric piano for me, for Rych a guitar, instruments which in our youthful dreams we thought would ride us to fame. Blues inspired songwriting led me to poetry.
Blues Art Guitars charts Rych's band's tour of Amsterdam in the eighties.
Inspired by my wife and muse Ashra, this selection ranges widely, encompassing much over the years: from views of India to teaching experiences, poems about art and artists, the French Revolution, to origins of photography and perceptions of internationally established poets. Brought together here for the first time are numbers of poems previously published in magazines such as Orbis, The French Literary Review, Cannon's Mouth, Erbacce and others.
Many of these poems have been read around the country, particularly at the St Ives Literary Festival where Bob Devereux and I performed an illustrated poetry set on Painters and Painting. My two novels, Lemon Seas and Painted Ghosts can be found at Pneuma Springs Publishing and Amazon. And see more at my website: NeilBeardmore.com.
Sadly Rych is no longer with us but my search for glory in my new band Blue Me Away continues . . .

Neil Beardmore. 2022