The Moving Finger Writes



The book takes its name from verse 51 of

Edward FitzGerald's translation of the

Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám:



"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,

Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit

Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,

Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."



These poems are all about the joy, agony

and satisfaction that comes from writing.

I have chosen to illustrate the book mainly with

photos of graffiti. Graffiti is an artform like

poetry, insofar as it is both admired by many

and reviled by others, all over the world.