Skip to main content

Singing as the Darkness Lifts, 25 09 2023 (Episode 4)

Singing as the darkness lifts, 25 09 2023:

    This morning the air carries the aroma of an empty vanilla ice-cream tub. For a moment I doubt my senses and wonder if I am remembering last night’s dessert – a trio of sorbet and ice-cream, and yet those flavours were sour cherry, cinnamon and orange. A delicious treat to accompany conversation and time in the company of friends to just be.

    On the drive home the waxing moon revealed itself from behind thick cloud as a glowing pringle lamp.

    Looking back on my week I see that it was composed of seized moments: A trip to Kent, a day sharing my art, dinner out on a Sunday. Conversations, listening, thinking time and laughter all mingling together and swirling now in my head like marbling inks on water. 


 An apple from my mum beside an apple for my mum

 

An Apple for My Mum

 

I need to tell you exactly what colour it was.

Did you ever suck an American boiled sweet –

a blue one –

slip it out of your mouth

hold it to the sun to admire it

before sliding its smoothness back in

and licking the wet sugar coating from

the pads of your thumb and index finger?

It was nearly that blue.

 

And did you have that gel toothpaste

so bright you squeezed it the full length

of your brush’s bristles

even though you knew the tube

said ‘pea-sized’?

The kind that had you wondering how blue

made teeth white?

It was almost that kind of blue.

And it shone

like the first strokes from a bottle of nail polish

labelled ‘electric blue’.

 

And there it was

hanging from the branch of a tree

within reach,

four firm knuckles at its base

and no one had picked it.

 

So I got it for her, that bluest of apples,

and all the way to her house

excitement held my stomach captive

as I imagined her biting into it

or wanting to put it on display

for the whole world to see.

Click here to acess the podcast version of this blog.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SOMEBODY’S MISSING (Episode 82)

 SOMEBODY’S MISSING     PodBean Link for those who like to listen  This morning the air has been sung in fresh by the dawn chorus. It carries hints of green and fuchsia.   Alt text suggests that this week’s photo is a person sitting on a lawn with flowers. I say it is a photo of my lovely dad and the flowers we chose to celebrate his life at his funeral.   This is the first new month that has started without my dad being here. I’ve learnt that I want to tell everyone what I learned from him. I’ve learned that one of the best things I can think of to do right now is carry forward the very special parts of him to the best of my ability. I’ve also learned that writing some of this down in a poem felt right, but that reading said poem when we gathered together to say goodbye to him required a large hanky and plenty of time for deep breaths.   I am so glad he came into my life when I was young and built us a family to be proud of. There’s so muc...
Post a Comment
Read more

STEPPING OUT FOR SNOOKER BY THE SEA (Episode 74)

STEPPING OUT FOR SNOOKER BY THE SEA  PodBean Link for those who like to listen...    This morning the rain brings a gentle dampness, and the air holds the scent of sap and twigs.    Alt text says this week’s photo is two women taking a selfie. I say it is me and my sister taking a selfie having learned that it is best if we both sit down. When we stand side by side for photos she looks far taller than me and the photos seem a little out of balance. She says I have shrunk. She couldn’t see me at the railway station when she arrived for her visit, and I found myself standing on tip toes and waving a big double handed wave, so perhaps I might just have to measure myself to find out if I have indeed shrunk a little!   We first met up to watch the snooker a year ago, and before this I had never watched it live. We saw Gary Wilson’s 147 break, and laughed at my sister’s impression of me telling her I was suffering from shin splint...
Post a Comment
Read more

HOW IT STARTED, HOW IT’S GOING (Episode 92)

HOW IT STARTED, HOW IT’S GOING     Listening Link  This morning the cool air is very welcome. It carries the vague scent of cut flower stems.   Alt text suggested this week’s photos could be a collage of a person lying on the grass or a collage of a person smiling. I say it is my author photo from 2020 alongside one of my author photos from 2025.   I still like the photo of me lying in the rosemary from five years ago, but can never unsee the single hair under the word poet which escaped my notice at the time. And I really like the recent photo. It’s actually me!   Not only can I face the camera and smile now, I am also willing to pose for more than one photo at a time. That’s a lot of progress. And I am proud and intrigued to look back and see where I have come from. Of course if you ask Kath how difficult I find it to stand still and gaze into the middle distance or how many photos we rejected along the way there is a story...
Post a Comment
Read more