I have a new poem published in Some Cannot Be Caught: The Emma Press Book of Beasts, edited by Anja Konig and Liane Strauss. It’s a semi-concrete poem called ‘Documentary on the Pangolin’ and – with apologies to those who don’t like hints as to how a poem should be read – I’m afraid I wrote most of this with the voice of David Attenborough in my head.

As a follow-up, the Emma Press conducted a super-quick interview with me and other contributing poets about our animal alter-egos. Extract from the article:

Jon Stone, author of the poem ‘Documentary of the Pangolin’, replied instantly with “a fox”, explaining that he too is “scrawny, crepuscular, an occasional nuisance, and an inveterate rummager.” He added, “I like travelling between the gaps in the figurative hedges, and I often find myself sniffing around on other people’s lawns. Humans make me uneasy, but I hang around in close proximity to them anyway.” 

They did ask me another question, which was left out of the version published on the blog: Do you think humans have anything to learn from this animal/animals in general?

After some thought, I typed back:  From the fox specifically? We could learn how to live alongside our enemies.