I bumped into my next-door neighbour the other day. He was heading out and, invariably, small talk led to the topic of weather. He seemed perplexed by a quote from the lunchtime news. “‘The coldest cold snap in two years.’ What a strange thing to say!”

I had to agree. Rarely does small talk go so deep. Although I kept my reply short, there was something being acknowledged: a disregard for smokescreens and mirrors. We are bamboozled by information and sound bites and told what to care about and what to worry about. We consume fear and dreams until we no longer know our own.

I try and stay aware of influences and how much in control I am of them, particularly when it comes to my poetry. Once I experimented by writing a few short poems while listening to Super Extra Gravity by The Cardigans. I gave myself the duration of the album and then when I was done put my notepad away. A month later I came back to it with a fresh mind. Reading them back I was shocked by how evident the rhythm and vocabulary mimicked the music.

Managing influence is like a tightrope act with two options. You can close your eyes and be guided by some unknown spirit to some unknown place; or you can walk with your eyes open, reacting to your own senses and movements, with every moment unique and fulfilling towards your chosen destination. It seems a heck of a lot easier to take the former, but rather more humane and rewarding to go with the latter.

Don’t let your brain freeze this winter. Step out and make your own news.

This month's favourites:
   IAM, ...De la planète Mars
   Franz Kafka, The Trial
   Suspicion (1941)