Around the corner

In February of last year I completed an on-line course with FutureLearn on literature and mental health. I remain to this day mindful of the power of prose and poetry to evoke emotion. So when I came across Charles Hanson Towne (1877-1949), an author, poet, editor, and popular New York celebrity of his day and his poem - Around the Corner, my memory took me back to the 2015 BP Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery in London. A big favourite event of mine. Breaking all rules I took this picture of Ian Cumberland's work - Sink or Swim. Without sounding too grim, this picture reminds me of suicide. And yet the artist remarks of his self-portrait ‘This painting reflects a period when I was feeling low. I feel it is pretty honest, but I see it more as a wake up call to try and change the things you have control of.’

Here is the poem

Around the corner I have a friend, In this great city that has no end, Yet the days go by and weeks rush on, And before I know it, a year is gone. And I never see my old friends face, For life is a swift and terrible race, He knows I like him just as well, As in the days when I rang his bell. And he rang mine but we were younger then, And now we are busy, tired men. Tired of playing a foolish game, Tired of trying to make a name. "Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim Just to show that I'm thinking of him", But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes, And distance between us grows and grows. Around the corner, yet miles away, "Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today." And that's what we get and deserve in the end. Around the corner, a vanished friend.

For information on BP Portrait Awards click here.

For information on FutureLearn click here