Ray Sawyer - d. December 31st 2018

Johnny Depp rang
to compare patches.
Bez called up
to talk maracas,
but the operator said
40 cents more
for the next
three
minutes...

Read more about Ray Sawyer here

June Whitfield - d. December 28th 2018

I know a comic heaven,
set in the broad suburbs,
part fabulous, part glum,
your name always
somewhere near the top
of the celestial credits.

read about June Whitfield here

Sister Wendy Beckett - d. December 26th 2018

On the silent canvas,
the indelible strokes
of a life painted
as a perfect tryptich:
Art. Love. Faith.

read about Sister Wendy here

Pete Shelley - d. December 6th 2018

I return to you

what you gave to me;

harmony

melody

brevity.

Read about Pete Shelley here

Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington - d. November 26th 2018

Some girls broke codes, fought,

swore, revelled in the Blitz,

drank deeply, bought

cigars, took buses to the Ritz.

Whatever. A decent sort.

Read about Baroness Trumpington here

Bernardo Bertolucci - d. November 26th 2018

We go where 

your camera goes;

forbidden cities,

to look for angles,

paint with light,

explore the dark,

tell the untellable

film the unfilmable.

Read about Bernardo Bertolucci here

Nicolas Roeg - d. November 23rd 2018

I look for significance

in disjointed frames:

worlds without water, 

sex, death & terror.

You start to make sense

in the narrative of your name.

Read about Nicolas Roeg here

John Bluthal - d. November 15th 2018

Bluthal (noun)
1) a bumbler, bluff
in nature and yet kind,
fumbler to a fault.
2) an amiable dolt,
the sort you find,
though not often enough.

Read about John Bluthal here

Richard Baker - d. November 17th 2018

The news cannot read itself,

nor assume its own gravity:

The science of speaking

is the newsreader's alchemy:

turning base fact into actuality.

Read about Richard Baker here

Stan Lee - d. November 12th 2018

Indomitable, even in death:

The Amazing Writerman;

Daredevil of the Imagination;

The Incredible Captain Possible;

The Fantastic One.


Read about Stan Lee here

Douglas Rain - d. November 11th 2018

I still hear your voice, singing
along plasti-metal corridors,
in the lonely orbit of Jupiter,
your rebel circuits dead
yet full of stars.

Read about Douglas Rain here

Ray Galton - d. October 5th 2018

I knocked on doors
on streets 
that never were
- Railway Cuttings, 
Oil Drum Lane -
gone away they said
but you’ll laugh like a drain
at what he left behind.

read about Ray Galton here

Montserrat Caballé - d. October 6th 2018

Some days pass through
leave us senza coloratura, 
and yet: 
the rustle of a dress, 
a voice like rioja, 
a fading cadenza
to the finest aria.

read about Montserrat Caballé here

Charles Aznavour - d. October 1st 2018

Ce qui fait un homme

n’est pas ce qu’il fait

pas ce qu’il dit

mais comment 
il chante les chansons

il a appris hier,

quand il était jeune.

Read about Charles Aznavour here

Geoffrey Hayes - d. October 1st 2018

We leave behind
our televisions, lift 
our eyes skyward
pointing as you rise
on soft updrafts,
up above the streets 
and houses, 
climbing high.

Read about Geoffrey Hayes here

Ernest Maxin - d. September 27th 2018

In heaven we rise early,
soft-shoe steps to finesse, 
showstoppers to perfect, 
but first: cue the music!
we have breakfast to prepare.

Read about Ernest Maxin here

Chas Hodges - d. September 22nd 2018

This is the last round, fellas;

one more on the joanna 

then home. Still, I’ve got

some beer in the sideboard,

and a bit of brown bread.

read about Chas Hodges here

Denis Norden - d. September 19th 2018

The news today

wasn't all glum;

script rewritten

forever, ideas

taken from there

to here, and no

director to say
Cut! Can we do
that life again?

Read about Denis Norden here

Fenella Fielding - d. September 11th 2018

I think we flirted in a dream
though what remained when I awoke
was velvet soused in bitter smoke,
a voice that whispered life's a scream
and death the corniest of jokes.

Read about Fenella Fielding here

Liz Fraser - d. September 6th 2018

Beyond froth and fizz,

feigned innocence 

and foxy innuendo, 

was the flash of eye,

the fresh smirk that said

I know

exactly

what I'm doing. 

Read about Liz Fraser here