After a career in business, John Edmondson has turned his attention to creative things. He writes poetry – and occasionally short fiction. His favoured themes throw a dispassionate light on the impact of the social, economic and political landscape we find ourselves in today. John’s other creative strand is as a photographer with an interest in similar themes to his writing.
He has had poems and stories published in All Good Things Begin (Off Centre Publishing, 2006), A New Orkney Anthology (GMB Fellowship, 2008), and in the Airfield Writers’ anthology and editions of The Mews (for both of which he did the photography and design). He was selected as a participant in the UpStart General Election Poster Project in the 2011 election. John’s photography has been shown in several group shows in and around Dublin.
He is currently working on a long-term project bringing together words and images focused on the political changes in the United States in recent years. His website is www.jedeye.net.
Here are two poems by John:
visit
scattered across the table
chunks of blue sea or sky
float between strips of edge
which don’t join up
like last time and the one before
I can’t tear my eyes away
from the few clear fragments
of a face, a grey wall
he forces a piece into place
pulls others apart
maybe some are lost forever
maybe they’re not even his
tales from the data mine
as you shake a hand
scratch your neck
or hold your lover
unseen flakes fly off
to form the dust that’s you
as you text a friend
buy online
browse and dream
tiny bits flash
glimpses of your life
all swept up in
some murky place
to be parsed parcelled
and presented
clear as a diamond
for any buyer
who then can tell you
what you think
what you want
who you are
John Edmondson
Airfield Writers 