FOR DAD, IF YOU COULD SEE THE STATE I’M IN | LITRO LAB PODCAST

Picture credits: Jonathan Vowles

On the tube that took me directly home / The station named after the Saint of Rome / Looked almost deserted, hardly a guest / Laid down their caps or anoraks to rest. / I myself, sporting wet assassins’ rags / And akimbo, rain soaked, brown bookshop bags.

Keir Batchelor

A son writes an honest letter to his dad from a very rainy London. This is a lyrical piece that invites us to think of longing and nostalgia. In those times when distances remain insuperable, words can paint a scene, recreate a feeling, bring the ones we miss closer. If you could reach someone with a letter, who would that person be?

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Keir Batchelor

About Keir Batchelor

Keir Batchelor is a 22-year-old Glaswegian poet currently studying an MA at Royal Holloway, University of London in Creative Writing after graduating from the University of Glasgow in 2020, studying English Literature. He composes with a tendency of playing all the butter notes, focusing solely on the prosody, tone of voice, and personality of Northern Poetry, in providing the cultures characteristic musical quality in his works. Batchelor is a keen performer of his works, with a lyrical intonation which conveys the songlines that run through Celtic cultures and remain pertinent in the tradition of song as a carrier and spreader of stories, ideas, politics and cultural heritage today. Batchelor's innate Scots often appears in his work, but frequently under the surface, and only becoming visible with a concerted effort to search for it, like shining a torch under an egg to reveal an embryo. He currently resides in South West London, remaining involved in the poetic community through online poetry readings and forums, and is slowly adjusting to the climate.

Keir Batchelor is a 22-year-old Glaswegian poet currently studying an MA at Royal Holloway, University of London in Creative Writing after graduating from the University of Glasgow in 2020, studying English Literature. He composes with a tendency of playing all the butter notes, focusing solely on the prosody, tone of voice, and personality of Northern Poetry, in providing the cultures characteristic musical quality in his works. Batchelor is a keen performer of his works, with a lyrical intonation which conveys the songlines that run through Celtic cultures and remain pertinent in the tradition of song as a carrier and spreader of stories, ideas, politics and cultural heritage today. Batchelor's innate Scots often appears in his work, but frequently under the surface, and only becoming visible with a concerted effort to search for it, like shining a torch under an egg to reveal an embryo. He currently resides in South West London, remaining involved in the poetic community through online poetry readings and forums, and is slowly adjusting to the climate.

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