Featured Poet: Diana Durham, Portsmouth
 Diana is the author of two poetry collections: 'Sea of Glass' (The Diamond Press, 1990) and 'To the End of the Night' (Northwoods Press, winner of their 2003 competition), a chapbook 'Fire Path' and the non-fiction 'The Return of King Arthur' (Tarcher/Penguin 2004). Her poetry has featured in numerous journals, both in the UK and USA, including 'Orbis' and 'Mankato Review'. Focusing on the power of the spoken word, Diana was a member of the London poetry performance group Angels of Fire, appearing in The Voice Box at the Royal Festival Hall. In New Hampshire she founded '3 Voices' three women writers who weave their poetry and prose together and have received state funding and performed state-wide. Diana speaks and runs workshops on the Grail/Arthur myths and the art of consciousness.
Of her featured poem, Diana writes: It was the end and aim of alchemy to make the 'philosopher's stone' (not the sorcerer's stone as the US version of the first Harry Potter book renamed it) because once created the stone could be used to make an elixir that would give eternal life. In this poem I play with this archetype, which, like so many other symbols, I understand as really speaking about consciousness itself, and the quality of awareness that is focussed through consciousness. I see this quality of awareness as the root of poetry and the poetic voice - why these are important to us, why potentially they can bring life, clarity and magic to the so-called ordinary worlds we live in.
Philosopher's Stone
I've been turning over
in my heart
like a smooth pebble
in the corner of my pocket
the thing itself.
It is not seen but I can feel it,
sure, whole, real
as river-polished
translucency,
elixir of now.
In the darkened ante-room
or threshold, beautiful fulcrum
where love turns into light
the thing itself,
shining
into the prism of worlds
whose tumbled happy contents,
cupboards and vistas,
take on then this common place
new marvel of stone.
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