Sage & Time is a monthly poetry night that I hosted with Anna Le and Richard Marsh. It began in July 2010 at the Three Blind Mice in Shoreditch, and moved to the Charterhouse bar in Smithfield in 2011. It’s been taking a break in 2014.

Sage & Time has featured some fantastic poets, but is most loved for its warm and welcoming open mic. It’s also home to The Thing: a collaborative poem compiled spontaneously during each event, made up of the best lines from each and every performer.

REVIEWS

Over the years, the lovely people at Sabotage Reviews have written some nice things about Sage & Time (as well as gracing our stage with their mic skills many, many times). Here’s a review of our 3rd birthday bash and another from November 2011.

 

PAST FEATURES

Richard Watkins & Amy McAllister

Raymond Antrobus & Sophia Walker

Paula Varjack & Maddy Carty

Hollie McNish & Richard Purnell

Joshua Idehen & Matt Cummins

John Osborne & Peter Hayhoe

Anthony Anaxagorou & Mel Jones

Kat Francois & Sh’maya

Katie Bonna & Richard Tyrone Jones

Emma Jones & Tshaka Campbell

Jasmine Cooray & Paul Eccentric

Keith Jarrett, Peter Hayhoe, Lettie McKie & James Webster

Keith Jarrett & James Webster

Paula Varjack & Jack Dean

Deanna Rodger & Dean Atta

Tim Wells & Maskelah

Anthony Joseph & Sh’maya

Abraham Gibson & Captain of the Rant

The Antipoet & Charlie Dupré

David Lee Morgan & Zorras

Mark ‘Mr T’ Thompson & Keith Jarrett

Donall Dempsey & Janice Windle

Indigo Williams, Harry Baker & Kayo Chingonyi

Rob Auton & Dan Cockrill

Niall O’Sullivan & Saran Green

Ronnie McGrath & Elektric

Will Stopha, Kemi Taiwo & Tarun Durga

The Brother’s Grim & Jazzman John

Abraham Gibson & Richard Marsh

 

THE THING: Birthday edition

Halfway through the night…

thing2

 

At full time…

thing

 

THE THING: September 2012

May we romanticise red Valentine love,
the real desire for beautiful lies.
You keep us in this straight jacket,
this strict constrict of life.
God, you felt so great…
…now he’s cuddly, tame and cultured,
gazing up at brickwork skies.
He’s waiting for everything to change.
For the bright chaos of life.
But when I began to love backwards
I could win a gunfight brandishing a knife.
There’s only one rule: you need to be real:
both truth and desire at the same time.
If my heart was a house, you’d already be home
and foul vowel play aside, it’s crystal clear why
you awaken resonances
that leave my soul stirred as well as shaken.
In weakness we are beautiful.
Now the sirens they haven’t stopped ringing.
You are the woman at the end of the beginning.
The words and thoughts, they hang off every part of me.
I’ve tasted myself charred.
This girl has put new glasses on my heart.



by Richard Marsh, Edward Unique, Stephanie Dogfoot, Matt Cummins, Marc Nair, Wizard of Skill, Chris Kraken, Emma Jones, Mark ‘Mr T’ Thompson, Tolu Agbelusi, Robin Grey, Jason Pilley, Mise Spain, Rikki Livermore, Tshaka Campbell, Anna Le and Amy Acre.

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