Thursday, January 30, 2014

small stone 30/2014



yesterday's rain lingers in the swish, swish of tyres as I pass darkened bark, leaves holding their wet and people hunched and hurrying

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Poetry Appearance

You can tell publication means a lot to me .. I've just spent time crawling over various social media websites to let know that three of my poems appear in the Camroc Press Review today, January 29th, at http://www.camrocpressreview.com/

If you're reading this at another time you'll have to scroll down the list of authors to find me. Please do and please let me know what you think of the poems. For me writing is definitely a process. Everything I write is an ongoing piece of work that develops after publication -not necessarily in a direct sense but change happens. 

The reader of my writing is important, how can they not be if publication is important, and evidence that being published is important is abundant (more on that another day). Feedback from readers may not, for some writers, change the particular piece that was read. For some, like me, it may inspire a small change in a poem, and feedback always helps me consider the work from the other side, so to speak. How easy it is to forget to think of a poem as it will be read, or heard.

For others the reader's influence is subtle, it serves to shape future work - maybe what is written, maybe how. So  don't hesitate to say what you think. After all, you're unlikely to be the only reader who finds a particular line dense!

small stone 29/2014



 my skin sings as the therapist’s hands massage me with sea salt scrub

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

small stone 28/2014



a single note of greeting pierces the light of the new day  -again, again, again,  now to attend to the bird song cd.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Time, poetry and memory

From one rainy place to another ... I'm now in Effingham where although this morning's clear skies promised cold and bright it was not to be. The afternoon bought more grey cloud and more rain. That's the end of the boring weather report.

So nice to catch up with local friends today ... my bridge was very rusty and we had a lesson on something new before the free play. Another convention to learn and to try to remember along with so many others.I need some practice.

Then the 'all clear' good news at my six month check up with the Consultant at The Royal Marsden Hospital. It still feels strange being there as a patient when I was a member of staff for so many years. I only have to see the green paint on the front of the main building to be overwhelmed by a wealth of memories. 

I have now started to draw on my experience two years ago of being diagnosed and treated with surgery and radiotherapy for uterine cancer in my poetry.  I wrote about it at the time in my journal but last week for the 52 poems project I wrote about how a cancer cell came uninvited into my body, and the discovery of those unwanted cells.  I knew that one day (and other days) I would do that ... it needed patience because I wanted to write from the experience rather than about the experience.  Everything comes to those who wait.

Its late now, well late for me. The room is full of the fragrance of  white jonquils - a good sort before you go to sleep smell. Back tomorrow, or the next day.

small stone 27/2014



  the beauty of African Violet petals 




a golden gem nested in five purple stained lobes:

Sunday, January 26, 2014

small stone 26/2014



 the textures and flavours of bread, cheese and homemade fig chutney blend into a perfect lunch

Saturday, January 25, 2014

small stone 25/2014



middle of the night, mid-winter


bare feet on oak floorboards reveal the soft side of hard, the warmth side of cold