One of the great joys of Twitter, is in discovering the idiosyncratic wonder of things like Dean Wilson’s ‘Pebble of the Day’.
The premise is refreshingly simple.
Dean, known as the ‘fourth best poet in Hull’, scours the beach in his home town of Withernsea, East Yorkshire, (and sometimes elsewhere), finds a pebble he likes, takes a photo of it and posts it on Twitter.
That’s it.
The rest is down to us his followers to make these pebbles our own.
It’s become part of my morning routine to cast my eye over Dean’s daily selections.
These sea-worn treasures fire my imagination in the same way an abstract painting does.
I see faces and familiar shapes and objects in them.
They have personality. Reveal things.
Sometimes provide a quirky resonance or commentary to the news that particular morning.
You’ll have to read Dean’s Twitter feed to fully understand what I mean.
As an example, the pebble I’ve pictured, number 565, looks to me like some kind of magical dreamscape.
But another of Dean’s followers saw ‘a sardonic woman in profile, a big eyed small person and a bird flying - possibly a snowman as well.’
Someone else observed a ‘lady, the lamp and the swallow flying towards the sun’.
Dean’s pebbles have inspired me to take greater care and pay closer attention on my daily walks.
To dodge the dog crap and notice the beautiful little things that nature puts across my path sometimes.
As for his poems, I find them starkly original, moving and often hilariously and squirmingly revealing.
I’ve never met Dean before, but his poetry and his pebbles make me feel like I have.
I recently bought his striking collection ‘Sometimes I’m So Happy I’m Not Safe On The Streets’ (Wrecking Ball Press).
How about this for an opening verse from ‘Hull Hath No Fury Like A Poet Scorned’:
I refuse to enter
The East Yorkshire Arts Centre
after someone who works there
Said my poems were s**t.
The best way to connect with Dean’s verse is watching him read them.
Something Hull film-maker Dave Lee has captured memorably in a series of black and white shorts, featuring the poet in all kinds of fascinating East Yorkshire locations.
Check out his documentary on Dean in East Coast Fever here:
I'd urge all fellow Twitterers to follow Dean @PoetDeanwilson6 and bask in the simple joy of his daily pebbles.
It's done me the world of good.
His poetry books are available via the Wrecking Ball Press website at www.wreckingballpress.com/shop/ or at Wrecking Ball Music, Books and Cafe in Whitefriargate, Hull (when back open).
Follow film-maker Dave Lee @davelee1968.
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