Graham Mummery was born in Altrincham, Cheshire, but has lived most of his life in or around Sevenoaks, Kent. He now works for an investment bank at Canary Wharf and is also treasurer of the Kent & Sussex Poetry Society. His first pamphlet collection, The Gods have Become Diseases, was published in 2006 and his poems and translations have appeared in various magazines including Ambit, Brittle Star, Equinox, Obsessed With Pipework, Poetry Street, Psychopoetica as well as on the BBC Kent Website and in the anthology Gobby Deegans’s Riposte.
He has written poems on and off for many years but did not do this seriously until he enrolled at a creative writing course at his local Adult Education Centre. The interest in translating comes from his interest in poets from other languages (some of whom he counts as important influences) and wanting to get closer to the sources for himself. He translates from mainly French and German.

Quelle: poetry pf


Meeting My Inners

On the beach, I laughed, clapped my hands at the in-coming tide.
My inner psychologist spoke: " See, your inner child."

I lay back on the sand, communed with the waves: "Man, what a beautiful world!"
My inner hippy tuned in and dropped out.
I slipped off my costume, felt the caress of sun and breeze on skin:
my inner naturist's first unveiling.

My inner film-director was passing, asked if I'd repeat this feat in his next movie.
My inner actor was outraged: "I only take my kit off when it's strictly necessary for the role."
But my inner porn-star was aroused: "There are positions we've never tried."

I left the beach thinking all this over, went for dinner at a taverna.
Mousaka, roasted goat, wine, ouzo... more ouzo, before
Zorba, my inner Greek danced into the early hours.

Maybe, my inner guardian carried me home. The next thing I remember is
my inner evangelist thundering: "Sins of the flesh."
While my inner shaman drummed incessantly on my temples,
summoning bigger crowds out. We were talking geography!

My inner explorer peered out from behind an exotic plant,
offering to navigate me across continents to meet everyone.
I was wondering how we'd all stay in touch.

in pamphlet collection The Gods Have Become Diseases, 2006
previously published in Brittle Star