Beyond Solitude
@beyondsolitude.com
Adam Cairns | Poet, photographer and eco-worrier wondering about being human. | Chair Ledbury Poetry Festival. | Advisory Board Poetry for Planet | Co- Founder & Director Néos Delta | Beyond Solitude Newsletter on Substack
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Beyond Solitude
@beyondsolitude.com
· Jun 5
Meeting Larkin
Why meeting your heroes might not be what you expect
open.substack.com
Ever met your hero. I have and it wasn’t what I expected.
#BeyondSolitude #Phiilip_Larkin
#poet
open.substack.com/pub/poetrywo...
#BeyondSolitude #Phiilip_Larkin
#poet
open.substack.com/pub/poetrywo...
Thomas, the poet, wrestling with the consequential decision he has to make.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AhgJV
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
August 11, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Thomas, the poet, wrestling with the consequential decision he has to make.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AhgJV
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
When my friend, the poet Lynette Thorstensen, invited me to join a conversation with a small group of fellow dreamers, I had no idea where the conversation would lead.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/Ag7zV
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
July 28, 2025 at 1:27 AM
When my friend, the poet Lynette Thorstensen, invited me to join a conversation with a small group of fellow dreamers, I had no idea where the conversation would lead.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/Ag7zV
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
From micromanaging days to overthinking nights, the illusion of control drains our joy. What’s left when you put down the reins? Space for serendipity.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64C
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64C
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
July 28, 2025 at 1:24 AM
From micromanaging days to overthinking nights, the illusion of control drains our joy. What’s left when you put down the reins? Space for serendipity.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64C
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64C
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
Frost was sure the prose Thomas was writing had poetry within it.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AgcYU
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
July 15, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Frost was sure the prose Thomas was writing had poetry within it.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AgcYU
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
Control offers the illusion of safety, but only acceptance delivers real peace. What if you experimented with letting go—not as a sign of defeat, but as an act of trust?
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64B
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64B
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
July 14, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Control offers the illusion of safety, but only acceptance delivers real peace. What if you experimented with letting go—not as a sign of defeat, but as an act of trust?
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64B
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64B
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
We often need containment; the snowy field is one field within a vast universe of snow.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AgZlX
#BeyondSolitude #writing #poetry
lttr.ai
July 14, 2025 at 2:41 AM
We often need containment; the snowy field is one field within a vast universe of snow.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AgZlX
#BeyondSolitude #writing #poetry
I stood up and there, towering fifty feet above me was The Great Man.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AgLL6
#BeyondSolitude #poetry #PhilipLarkin
July 8, 2025 at 1:27 AM
I stood up and there, towering fifty feet above me was The Great Man.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AgLL6
#BeyondSolitude #poetry #PhilipLarkin
‘ … We are all here for the same reasons, aching toward what we desire most: a drunken gaze, shaking the winter from our hair, remembering a mother’s taco shells and refusing to wipe away the grease.’
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfByF
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfByF
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
lttr.ai
July 3, 2025 at 1:27 AM
‘ … We are all here for the same reasons, aching toward what we desire most: a drunken gaze, shaking the winter from our hair, remembering a mother’s taco shells and refusing to wipe away the grease.’
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfByF
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfByF
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
I think it erected what Billy Collins calls an anti-poetry deflector shield that came on line whenever I was presented with a long poem.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/Af54L
#BeyondSolitude #poetry #PhilipLarkin
July 1, 2025 at 9:32 AM
I think it erected what Billy Collins calls an anti-poetry deflector shield that came on line whenever I was presented with a long poem.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/Af54L
#BeyondSolitude #poetry #PhilipLarkin
The tracks in the field were a mess however, and with a heavy fall of snow, perhaps over the next week or weeks, the direction in which they led might be lost.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AfByE
#BeyondSolitude #writing #poetry
lttr.ai
June 30, 2025 at 10:04 AM
The tracks in the field were a mess however, and with a heavy fall of snow, perhaps over the next week or weeks, the direction in which they led might be lost.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AfByE
#BeyondSolitude #writing #poetry
Present at Anjali’s death, she movingly describes the deep friendship they developed, and the grace she felt attending Anjali’s passing.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBx5
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBx5
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
June 30, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Present at Anjali’s death, she movingly describes the deep friendship they developed, and the grace she felt attending Anjali’s passing.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBx5
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBx5
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Even the best-laid plans can unravel in an instant. The control illusion convinces us we’re at the wheel, yet life often drives itself. The magic happens when you trade control for curiosity, worry for wonder.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64A
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64A
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
June 27, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Even the best-laid plans can unravel in an instant. The control illusion convinces us we’re at the wheel, yet life often drives itself. The magic happens when you trade control for curiosity, worry for wonder.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64A
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ae64A
#BeyondSolitude #PowerOfSayingYes #loneliness
A poem to enjoy - Eulogy for the Cantina on Chapel St. that’s transformed into another bank by Kinsale DrakePoetry doesn’t have to be complicated.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBx2
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBx2
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
June 26, 2025 at 9:31 AM
A poem to enjoy - Eulogy for the Cantina on Chapel St. that’s transformed into another bank by Kinsale DrakePoetry doesn’t have to be complicated.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBx2
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBx2
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Perhaps Larkin’s greatest gift was looking unflinchingly at whatever was there.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfrTC
#BeyondSolitude #poetry #PhilipLarkin
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfrTC
#BeyondSolitude #poetry #PhilipLarkin
June 25, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Perhaps Larkin’s greatest gift was looking unflinchingly at whatever was there.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfrTC
#BeyondSolitude #poetry #PhilipLarkin
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfrTC
#BeyondSolitude #poetry #PhilipLarkin
An article that made me think - In my later years I want to embrace valour - Sheila Hancock - What a marvellous article this is.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/Ae63d
#NéosDelta #3rdAct
June 25, 2025 at 1:23 AM
An article that made me think - In my later years I want to embrace valour - Sheila Hancock - What a marvellous article this is.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/Ae63d
#NéosDelta #3rdAct
Meeting Larkin - Why meeting your heroes might not be what you expect
�¸ https://lttr.ai/AfqZ7
#BeyondSolitude #poetry #PhilipLarkin
June 24, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Meeting Larkin - Why meeting your heroes might not be what you expect
�¸ https://lttr.ai/AfqZ7
#BeyondSolitude #poetry #PhilipLarkin
Where I found hope this week - We’ve been thinking about love all wrongSuleika Jaooud writes about what illness taught her about true friendship.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxx
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxx
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
June 24, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Where I found hope this week - We’ve been thinking about love all wrongSuleika Jaooud writes about what illness taught her about true friendship.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxx
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxx
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
She talks about ‘the radical power of seeing, understanding, and showing up for another human.’ She says the lesson she took was learning to ‘Be fully present, listen, give of yourself to another human.’
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxu
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxu
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
lttr.ai
June 23, 2025 at 9:31 AM
She talks about ‘the radical power of seeing, understanding, and showing up for another human.’ She says the lesson she took was learning to ‘Be fully present, listen, give of yourself to another human.’
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxu
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxu
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
While living in Gloucestershire in 1914, Frost frequently took long walks with Thomas through the countryside.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AfBxs
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
lttr.ai
June 23, 2025 at 1:27 AM
While living in Gloucestershire in 1914, Frost frequently took long walks with Thomas through the countryside.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AfBxs
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
Frost intended ‘The Road Not Taken’ to be read as a playful dig at Thomas.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxq
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxq
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
lttr.ai
June 20, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Frost intended ‘The Road Not Taken’ to be read as a playful dig at Thomas.
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxq
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AfBxq
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
June 20, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Something happy - Sir David Attenborough is 99 When I shared this article with a friend, they shot back a quick ‘Oh no!’ assuming he had died.
Read the full article: Nine by One
▸ https://lttr.ai/AfByD
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read the full article: Nine by One
▸ https://lttr.ai/AfByD
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
lttr.ai
June 19, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Something happy - Sir David Attenborough is 99 When I shared this article with a friend, they shot back a quick ‘Oh no!’ assuming he had died.
Read the full article: Nine by One
▸ https://lttr.ai/AfByD
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
Read the full article: Nine by One
▸ https://lttr.ai/AfByD
#NineByOne #BeyondSolitude
It was during these long walks that Frost encouraged Thomas to consider himself a poet.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AfBxl
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
June 19, 2025 at 1:27 AM
It was during these long walks that Frost encouraged Thomas to consider himself a poet.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AfBxl
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
The other direction, the path Thomas chose, buttressed by the abstract notion of duty, rose from another ideal.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AfBxk
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
June 18, 2025 at 9:31 AM
The other direction, the path Thomas chose, buttressed by the abstract notion of duty, rose from another ideal.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AfBxk
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
The road not taken by Thomas led to America, and the freedom to write as Frost did, while the path he chose led to his death.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AfBxi
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct
lttr.ai
June 18, 2025 at 1:27 AM
The road not taken by Thomas led to America, and the freedom to write as Frost did, while the path he chose led to his death.
Read more �‘‰ https://lttr.ai/AfBxi
#BeyondSolitude #3rdAct