BLACKBIRD

 

You woke me.

Your voice sharp

with vibrant zest,

an alarm call

from the top of the apple tree

urging me to get up

and celebrate the spirit

of this post-rain morning.

Sun-rays like fingers

open the eyes

of your sleepy babies 

in their ivy nest.

We are waiting for breakfast,

and still you sing and trill on.

 

JTD, April 27,2015

CLOWNING ABOUT

I've always enjoyed clowning about and have been known to be especially wild after a few drinks. How refreshing then to be wild without the alcohol. Holly Stoppit was brought up in the circus and for the past 15 years has been entertaining people, running workshops and groups in the art of clown. She is also a drama therapist and understands the earthquake potential of releasing our inner clown.
If you want a weekend of madness and mayhem, fun and frolic, creativity and connectedness and be in a pair of very safe hands,
see https://www.facebook.com/hollystoppitworkshops

skindancing

Last week I attended the launch of Susan Richardson's new collection of poetry, skindancing (Cinnamon Press, 2015)  at the Waterloo Tearooms in the Wyndham Arcade  Cardiff.

   'skindancing is themed around human-animal metamorphosis and our dys/functional relationship with the wild/our animal selves. Its sources of inspiration include shapeshifting tales from a number of different cultures, from Inuit to Celtic, Native American to Norse, as well as Susan's ongoing engagement with shamanic journeying. As with Susan's previous collection, Where the Air is Rarefied, it features illustrations by visual artist Pat Gregory, who also created the mesmerising cover.'
     Susan was my creative writing tutor for several years and helped me write my book Soothmoother's saga. She is a brilliant performer and her poetry is poignant, funny, bawdy, surreal,  moving and quite unique; to use just a few describing words. The intricate and clever pencil drawings by Pat Gregory contain Susan's world within the framework of Celtic knots and patterns.

The Exhibition of poems and images goes on until Monday 1st of June.

Then it transfers to Waterloo Tea, Stanwell Road, Penarth and will be on until Thursday 2nd of July 2015.  

 On Tuesday 16th of June Susan is reading and performing her work in Penarth. If you want to be entertained and hear poetry from a mistress of the craft -Don't miss it!*
For further info: see www.susanrichardsonwriter.co.uk/poet/skindancing
A3 prints of Pat's drawings can be had for a mere £15 for black and white and £20 for a coloured front cover print. They can be ordered from patj-gregory@gmail.com

*Waterloo Tea has a lovely selection of teas served in ceramic pots and delicious cakes are very good too.

WRITERS IN THE PARK SIZZLES

Writers in the Park, the group I set up in January this year has taken on a life of its own. We finished for the summer last month and members are keen to encourage each other to go on writing. Members have set up a closed Facebook page. One member is sharing a 5minute writing exercise each day on it which is getting some to write and others to think about writing.
        Today we went on a Writers walk along the River Taff. The subject was a Fungi Foray and one of the members Jane, who has some knowledge in this area lead us to look closely in patches of rotting wood for shrivelled jews' ears and other fungi. She showed us part of the old Glamorgan Canal and inspired us to think about its industrial history-the horses that pulled the barges of coal coming down from Merthyr and questions as to who carved the building stones, how many men did it take to lift them, why are there three arches in the wall, was it a house, an engine room, a store house. What was life like for the working classes who built the means for landowners to become rich?
      Lyn took photos of unfurling ferns, patches of violets, primroses, and a selfie of us on  a grate over the Radyr Weir (was afraid we might be writers in the water). Then as Jane left us suddenly a turquoise kingfisher darted along the river, not once but twice. I hadn't seen one since just after my hip operation nearly four years ago.
     'In Arthurian legend the Fisher King, or the Wounded King, is the latest in a long line charged with keeping the Holy Grail. Versions of his story vary widely, but he is always wounded in the legs or groin and incapable of moving on his own. In the Fisher King legends, he becomes impotent and unable to perform his task himself, and he also becomes unable to father or support a next generation to carry on after his death. His kingdom suffers as he does, his impotence affecting the fertility of the land and reducing it to a barren wasteland. All he is able to do is fish in the river near his castle, Corbenic, and wait for someone who might be able to heal him. Healing involves the expectation of the use of magic. Knights travel from many lands to heal the Fisher King, but only the chosen can accomplish the feat. This is Percival in earlier stories; in later versions, he is joined by Galahad and Bors.'  (Wikipaedia)   As Barbara said afterwards it was a perfect gift  to end our stroll.
     Next week for the summer months and without my input, Writers in the Park becomes Writers in the Pub as the writers take on more initiative and organise themselves to meet weekly at a sizzlers' pub for breakfast, chatting and (supposedly!) writing. They are also providing a mutual support network encouraging each other and friendships are blossoming. I'm a proud Mum!