Skip to main content

Singing as the Darkness Lifts 11 09 2023 (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 2)

Singing as the darkness lifts, 11 09 2023:

The air is warm and is scented with a tinge of pink tea rose. A crow on an aerial has the silhouette of the robin from the cake decoration box. Inside there is gentle comfort in the scent of home sleep. 

I am noticing Autumn... garden spiders are making large webs from bush to car wing mirror and large spiders have been spotted in the house as well as on pavements during evening walks. A conker placed inside the front door pleased me because I consider the year that I put them in many corners of the house to be the year that very few spiders entered. And then, just after admiring it and its possible positive impact I hoovered it up by accident. I may revisit my conker hunting experience this week.

The week is full as I begin my coaching course. Last week I had my orientation meeting and engaged in pre-reading and this week I will engage with Part 1. I am feeling excited and a little nervous about my new learning and developing my skills with new people.

One of my favourite poems, 'I Hate You', which was an absolute pleasure to write, found a home at The Broken Spine last week and I was delighted to see it in such good company.

There was also the gift of Afternoon Tea to be enjoyed and choosing the second Friday in September seemed just the right thing to do. Glorious weather and a memory made in celebration of new beginnings, good people and kindness.

Here's to noticing the small things and finding joy, and to noticing what makes our hearts sing as the darkness lifts...

 

'Afternoon Tea' and 'Ronnie Jumps for Joy after Afternoon Tea'

 

This Was Once a Good Poem

 

but it has eaten cheese and pickle rolls for a week now

and it can’t work out why the vitamins aren’t working.

It rocks in the chair until its eyes are too tired to see

and has scared itself with thoughts of Autumn spiders

under glasses in the hallway.

It is wondering if it is true that conkers in corners

keep arachnids at bay

and is now standing in the dark

sniffing last year’s horse chestnuts

desperate to find their scent.

Originally published by Ink, Sweat and Tears

 

Click here to access the podcast version of this Blog.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MY YEAR IN REVIEW (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 114)

 MY YEAR IN REVIEW   Listening Link This morning it is raining and the almost unchilled air carries strong hints of green.   Alt text says this week’s photo is a collage of a group of people. It is indeed a collage and it is made from the photos that accompanied each blog post this year. I do like to take a look back before I look forward and I thought this would be one way of doing it for 2025.   When I was little I loved an annual. To me it was a book of delightful snippets collected together to be enjoyed in a period of time that involved a break from routine. I can picture myself reading in my pyjamas, the seemingly bottomless sweet tin, and the advent calendar that left its glitter on our fingers with all its doors open telling me that it was indeed Christmas Day. This week’s photo is like the cover of my 2025 annual.   This blog has been my way of building a good relationship with Mondays, and the fact there have been 114 episodes since Sept...

LIFTED (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 108)

LIFTED Listening Link  This morning, the cool air brings the smell of hash browns as the traffic builds its familiar rush.   Alt text offers no suggestion for this week’s photo. I say it is my sister, me and my mum in the lift after coffee and before a little shopping spree. I love this moment in time from our lovely, shared day, and the fact I remembered to take a photo.   This week I learned that I am a competent pumpkin carver. Good company, a simple design idea, a whiteboard marker pen and a last-minute pumpkin purchase resulted in a Trick or Treat worthy exhibit which made me smile.   It has been like adopting a mini half-term this week... catching up with a good friend, time with family, carving that pumpkin, having a toffee apple, going to a big firework display, landing on the settee of lovely people and having a photograph taken... and perhaps there will always be echoes of school holidays even though I no longer have these as ...

POET, COACH. COACH, POET. (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 107)

POET, COACH. COACH, POET.     Listening Link  This morning a swirling wind makes an incense of its own as it mixes the soft dry scent of wood smoke with the damper smell of fallen leaves.   Alt Text says this week’s photo is a picture of two women smiling. I say it is me having a post-gig photo with Wendy James, and feeling glad to have the opportunity to express my gratitude for the music which has been in my heart for a long time now.   This week while tuning in to POETs Day live with Kate Jenkinson (Fridays at 12:30 via LinkedIn) I found myself drawn to the Venn diagram image in the Poetry In Business Logo. It resonated with my recent thinking around how two of my favourite things (poetry and coaching) intersect. Whilst wondering about this I had also been toying with the thought that people might find it strange that my social media presence often flits between poetry and coaching. My answer to myself was that I am a poet and a ...