Bio
Now retired, Jim Conwell lives in London. He grew up in the Irish community in Cricklewood in the 1950s and '60s. Balancing the rigid demands of Catholicism and the cultural tensions inherent in emigration, were two major influences in his childhood. Those influences and the emotional insights gained in 36 years as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, form the content of his work. He is published widely in magazines and anthologies. He has had two poems shortlisted in the Bridport Poetry Prize and was longlisted in the 2023 Brian Dempsey Memorial Pamphlet competition. His first collection Immigrant Journey was published by Vole Books in October 2024.
Jim Conwell
Paying Attention
The snow is pretending
that it's almost finished
and someone more gullible
than me
might believe that.
But I look at the sky's ominous darkness.
And I look at the way snow's still
sneaking down. So fine you might
miss it if you were persuaded
not to bother looking closely.
But no-one will ever persuade me
of that. I learnt, before I even knew
about learning, to pay attention.
The teachers thought I wasn't.
And it's true, I wasn't
paying attention to them.