Thoughts of a Soo

It all started in March 2021 during my lockdown walks and they still gladden my heart so here are my favourite 'Look Down' photographs that are not #ElasticBandPhotos... 'Look Down' March 2021 'Not a Caterpillar'  (August 2021) 'K'  (November 2021) 'Swirled Orange'  (December 2021) 'Proud Dino' April 2022 'Fish with Coral and Blue Jewel' August 2022

'Jump' Rhos-on-Sea 28th October 2022     'Landed' Rhos-on-Sea 28th October 2022    'Dive 1' and 'Dive 2' Rhos-on-Sea 28th October 2022 ''  

 'Joyful Dancing for Inaugural Yarn Gathering, Mold' 18th September 2022

'Been on a Train at Betws-y-Coed' 12th August 2022 'The Clock Tower' 9th August 2022 'It's The Dive!' 8th August 2022   'Crescent Turner Hotel Sunset' 7th August 2022 'Landed in the Glow' 7th August 2022       

 'No Terrapin Today'   My entry for The Poetry Archive Now! WordView 2022 Click the title link above P oem Description / Inspiration: The pond in Herne Bay Park holds many memories for me. My brother and I used to canoe on it, my sister and I saw a gull eat a duckling after swooping for bread and each visit home includes a walk to see if the terrapin is basking on the rock by the island. I don’t visit as often as I used to before the lockdown and often rely on updates from my sister. This poem was written after she rang me one day to tell me that the terrapin was not there. No Terrapin Today   Just her in the water. The sun warming her as she floats.   A fallen leaf, landed beside her, shines its green to the sky.   Branches and leaves pattern her outline with their shadows.   You say you want to photograph her, that you wonder what her eyes are seeing as she lies unmoving in the water.   I can onl...

 'Pershore Abbey 1' 26th July 2022     'Pershore Abbey 2' 26th July 2022

'Great Orme 1' 3rd June 2022  'Great Orme 2' 3rd June 2022 'Great Orme 3' 3rd June 2022  'Charity' 1st June 2022   'Rhododendron' 1st June 2022   'Landed' 1st June 2022

'Weedon Bec' 21st May 2022    'Slightly Off Course Over Gorse' 2nd May 2022 'Hooray for Cowslips' 1st May 2022  'May 1st Somersault'

   'Landing'  Prestatyn 16th April 2022   'Between'  Prestatyn 16th April 2022     'Yay'  Prestatyn 16th April 2022     'Landed'  Prestatyn 16th April 2022

For me, writing good poetry is like riding a ghost train: You start in the dark and have to wait for your eyes to begin to become accustomed to it. The track isn't always straight and sudden turns spin your stomach. There are things that make you shut your eyes and things only glimpsed that dare you to focus in. You need to be ready to hit things hard and go right through.

In 2021 I began to pay attention to the names given to each full moon throughout the year.  In 2022 I decided I would learn them and also write a poem on each full moon... wolf... snow... worm... pink... flower... strawberry... buck... sturgeon... harvest...hunter's...beaver...cold Photo credit: Lisa Hughes, Harvest Moon, September 2022. Below you can read the first full moon poem of 2022 for January's Wolf Moon. The full set of these poems appears in 'Vortex Over Wave' which was published in December 2023. The book combines the moon poems with a selection of my #ElasticBandPhotos. I AM HOWLING TO JANUARY'S WOLF MOON   by this I mean I have no words by this I mean I am too tired to speak by this I mean I think if I started, I wouldn’t stop by this I mean there is too much I am holding in by this I mean I am struggling by this I mean I need to ask for help by this I mean I need you to help me by this I mean ple...

I had a brief experiment with the morning tweet before March 2020 Lockdown. Doing this definitely helped me to have a focus in the Autumn that followed... Monday 14th  December 2020: The sky winks a star, says there were meteors last night. Thursday 10th December 2020: I let the sky orange its purple blanket without really noticing. Wednesday 9th December 2020: Winter bleached air, curved moon in a blue sky surrounded by stars that I swear are singing. Tuesday 8th December 2020: A sideways glance from a Santa in an upstairs window as the moon looks on through thin puffed cloud. Gentle rattled greetings from the magpie nest. Monday 7th December 2020: The orange light of street lamps shows the fog as cloud. Brake lights pierce it. Then half a moon behind a skim of cloud as magpies chatter. Friday 4th December 2020: The day feels freshly washed and the moon says waxing follows waning and the sky shows its blue. Thursday 3rd December 2020: Just rain from an inked black sky that slowly,...