James Garratt – A life lived and recorded in ink since 1992
My name is James and this personal website is an attempt to archive my writing which predominately is (under a loose banner) poetry
I started writing things down at the age of 17 in 1992, initially with no other idea of plan then to keep a record of my thoughts and feelings. Given my growing up experiences it felt like the perfect way to apply some self help therapy
Maybe I am just
not built in such a way
that I can so easily
swallow the days.
shut down gates,
open,
find pasture.
The trauma ties,
the trauma ties,
the trauma ties —
untie them, let go.
Where do I belong?
It’s a complicated song,
although it has
verse and chorus.
And it is that,
the question,
the actual question,
the lifelong task.
They blame other human beings,
human beings they’ve not actually met.
Boats enrage them,
dinghies cause their prejudice to set sail.
Where do I belong?
And where are my roots?
A local boy
with foreign boots.
I am seasonal offers,
something for the moment,
something to try.
An exotic flavour which burns inside.
Memories frayed
around their edges.
Experiences, intangible,
like melted snow.
It has a theatre,
but a one-person show.
It tracks identity
with the passion others take home.
The Boy Behind The Glasses. Poetry and Writing 