Poetic alchemy
As a young child I wrote poetry, badly but enthusiastically, secretly. I then did an English degree which involved, of course, reading lots of poetry. I continued to scribble down verses of my own but the degree was more concerned with the deconstruction and analysis of other people’s poems.
I’ve always fancied doing a creative … Read more
It’s all about where you look
So, there I am, driving to work through glorious countryside, a golden sun rising across dewy hills. I stop to take a sharp right turn up a steep hill and shift into first gear, which crunches a bit, but it is only when I try to reverse to park that I realise my gears are … Read more
First they came for
… Read moreFirst they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they
Autumn snuggling down
I used to hate the dark wintering months, wetting and chilling us as they shorten the days and steal the summer’s light. But now I notice a sense of relief. Relief that I can rest, be still, sit with the cat warming my legs as I dive between pages of my teetering reading pile.
Wood … Read more
To look for wonder
To look for wonder
This week
By the sea
In community
Has reminded me
Of simplicity
Screenless
Phoneless
Silent
Stillness.
Reminds me how to pay attention,
How to move the paint brush,
Sing a song,
Lie starfished floating.
How to sit and gaze as gulls kite high,
As terns skim waves,
Watching
rabbits dart,
Kittens … Read more
Shadows
Shadows
Shin deep,
hands filled with flailing
suffocating fish
I see dark shadows
and call others to see.
Wrist to elbow long,
they dart skilfully,
herding their prey toward the shore
where then they must either turn into the waiting jaws
or die flipping
ever more slowly
on the rain damp
shore.
Mackerel
chasing whitebait.… Read more