Two worlds
We are walking.
We both see a dead rabbit in the road.
I exclaim and want to move it,
you step in first.
You step in
and kick it to the kerb,
I hurt.
You pick it up by the tale,
fingers protected in a plastic bag,
and let the dogs sniff it… Read more
This is what
This is what death looks like:
small,
silent,
still.
Nothing remarkable.
No great fanfare of mourners,
no pagentry,
just a leaf of brown fur curled up in the soil.
This is what murder looks like:
charming,
engaging,
entertaining,
loveable,
fun.
Ignore the sharp eyed claws
and jaws,
the precise pounce,
the silent stealth
of unsuspected … Read more
You are never alone
This has been a tricky week. Death has been in the air and the coaching sessions I have been doing but it was an unexpected visitor to my conversation with Carol Cumber of the Natural Harmony Center.
Carol has one of the dirtiest laughs I know and is playful, naughty, irreverent and fun.
She is … Read more
Happy Mid Winter Solstice
The night of the 20th-21st December was the longest night of 2017. In the middle of winter, the solstice was traditionally celebrated as the time of honouring the coming of the sun.
In the depth of the dark, we remember the coming of the light.
This is my magnolia tree.
Most of it’s leaves have … Read more
What is loss?
P asked me what the loss of a parent is like.
It is cutting trees by the river with your mum’s pruning saw and dropping it in the water, shouting ‘No! No! No!’ as you grab for it and can’t reach it and watch it sink into darkness away from you.
It is a sick … Read more
Death at our shoulder
Death seems to be having a feeding frenzy this year. David Bowie, Caroline Aherne, Alan Rickman, Muhammad Ali, Prince, Victoria Lane, Ronnie Corbett, Paul Daniels and Terry Wogan to name some. These are the people and names I grew up with. My mum loved Terry Wogan and he was the breakfast time voice, after Jimmy … Read more