Live Ode for Haiti

The Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, has arranged a Live Aid-style poetry event to take place at Westminster's Central Hall on Saturday 30 January 2009. The poets taking part include Andrew Motion, Brian Patten, Roger McGough, Maura Dooley and Gillian Clarke.

Here's a feeble addition to the cause:

Port-au-Prince had a terrible quake

That caused politicians to make

Promises galore

Of aid to the poor --

And artists sped to the wake

Not exactly Edward Lear, but the event itself will have inspired oodles of heart-felt scribbling. I feel a book of the gig will follow pretty soon chasing the charity dollar ...