After a long time of thinking and fretting, I decided that I was unhappy with the copyright arrangements for my poems. So, in July 2009 I decided to start using Creative Commons licences. As the CC folk say on their website, "Creative Commons licenses are not an alternative to copyright. They work alongside copyright, so you can modify your copyright terms to best suit your needs. We've collaborated with intellectual property experts all around the world to ensure that our licenses work globally."
Which is why you'll see copyright notices littered around the bottom of pages across this website.
What does all this mean?
What I'm saying is, if you want to post one of my poems to your website or blog, go right ahead - as long as you remember to give me credit for the poem by making sure you say "This poem was written by Rik Roots". Feel free to take one of my poems into class for your 'found poem' project. You can reuse a poem, for instance in a leaflet or pamphlet - as long as they're not for sale!. And the best bit is you can do all this fun stuff with my poems without having to pay me! Check out the Creative Commons website for more information for what can and can't be done to works released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence.
If you do use my work, I'd be interested to hear about it. And, while the licence allows you to do fun stuff with my poems without having to pay me, a donation to help me keep on writing more poems is always very welcome - just click on the donate button at the top left of the page.
But wait! There's more!
You know how you're supposed to progress as a poet as time goes by? Well, I've been thinking about those poems I wrote more than 15 years ago and, well, I think it's about time they started to make their own way in the world. So I've decided to release the poems listed below under the much sexier Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence which means that for these poems I'm going to be brave and let people copy, distribute, display, and perform these work - and derivative works based upon works - as long as you mention my name somewhere where folks can spot it. And yes you can use these poems for commercial work, and no I don't expect to be paid - though again a donation is always welcome!
- Discovery (September 1994)
» This is a strange territory: I met it last
Published in Magma 4 (Spring 1995) - City (May 1994)
» One Tuesday, I tasted a different city: - Traveller (May 1994)
» To remove the shirt as Man examines,
Included in the collection Play Time - Fallen (February 1994)
» Here lies a church: its bricks, dis-mortared,
Published in Magma 2 (June 1994) - Cusp (November 1993)
» On the last morning of Summer
Published in Magma 1 (March 1994).
Included in the collection Play Time - Flaw (November 1993)
» Flaw sits in my cupboards - Shot (July 1993)
» The fox is shot:
Published in Magma 1 (March 1994).
Included in the collection Play Time - Menses (May 1993)
» A new year: my goodwill drains away with the dregs
Published in Magma 2 (June 1994).
Included in the collection Play Time - Home (March 1993)
» When the wind was warm and the day
Included in the collection Play Time - Appreciation (August 1992)
» In the kingdom of time suspended
Published in Magma 1 (March 1994).
Included in the collection Play Time - Paradise (August 1992)
» An exile in paradise - Democracy (July 1992)
» I smile to the video in the shop window. - Art (March 1992)
» It was speeded and slowed:
Included in the collection Play Time - Hunters (March 1992)
» From the desert brush a dappled cat - Scared (March 1992)
» When the angels came to take the world - Perhaps (January 1992)
» The desk sits square on the side of the room.
Included in the collection Play Time - East of Islington (December 1991)
» Half-six of an evening and already - Candle (November 1991)
» In an island of hard-polished desk
Published in Magma 4 (Spring 1995).
Included in the collection Play Time - Daisy (November 1991)
» Where is Daisy's baby?
Published in Magma 5 (Summer 1995).
Included in the collection Play Time - Harry (October 1991)
» Harry has found a niche for the afternoon.
Included in the collection From Each Skull, A Story - History (October 1991)
» Here lies the portrait of a woman long lost:
Published in Magma 4 (Spring 1995).
Included in the collection Play Time - Search (October 1991)
» I only search for him at the weekend: - The Levants (October 1991)
» Sayeed is the checkpoint leader: - Choice (March 1991)
» Into the left eye mirrors a desert: - James (February 1991)
» James watches the monkey organ-chained.
Published in Magma 5 (Summer 1995) - Uri (February 1991)
» Uri slides motionless across the curve of the skies, - Cremations (November 1990)
» The sun has swilled caskets of Spanish wine - Kingfisher Pool (November 1990)
» Once I found a waterfall.
Published in Magma 1 (March 1994) - London (October 1990)
» Should he ever speak of home, - Rituals (October 1990)
» Autumn would bring us rituals to school. - Sophie Plays Ouija (April 1990)
» Sophie's dad wants to talk to her. - Wild Shannah (November 1989)
» She would mock the betrayal of the storm - Foxed Verse (various dates)
A home for the bits of 8 line doggerel I find myself writing from time to time - Limericks (various dates)
My collected limericks (thankfully not many of them) - Nonsense (various dates)
a place for my various nonsense snippets ...