Singing as the Darkness Lifts

  A GREEN CARNATION     Click here for the listening link This morning the air holds the scent of oak and blackbirds are sounding their alarm calls.   Alt text says this week’s photo is a green object on a white plate. Kath says it did look better at the time. I say it is a twenty-three-year-old green carnation that will forever be one of the romantic things that symbolises me meeting my wife.   I was thinking about what it means to step into new things this week and perhaps this flower is a very good reminder of what can happen when you take the plunge and just do something. I loved that a woman I had never met said she would be wearing a green carnation and would meet me in a bar at 8pm on a Wednesday. I laugh at the fact I thought I was being helpful by saying I would wear a badge, but didn’t say that it would be on the hem of my jeans. I also laugh that I was thirty minutes early so that I could make sure I saw he...

Summer Solstice   Click here for the Listening Link This morning the air is cool and there is a welcome breeze. A hint of light citrus seems to whirl in on the air before the richness of caramel is detected in a different direction.   Alt text suggests this week’s photo could be a person sitting in the grass with yellow flowers. I say it is my sister crouched in the border in her favourite park with her head nicely positioned between two yellow roses patiently waiting for me to take a photo. I also say it was a difficult photo to try to recreate so the opportunity to seize the moment and take the photo was well embraced.   The hottest day of the year coincided with Summer Solstice, and my sister and I went on a long river walk before ending up in the park waiting for the doughnut shop to open. I love the feeling of walking in intense sunshine, but was immensely grateful for an iced coffee and a fizzy water. I still find it difficult to remember all the things to s...

World Early Stroll Day 88 If you like to be read to click here for the listening link .  This morning the air carries the essence of silage. It is warm and uplifted by floral scents.   Alt text suggests this week’s photo could be a purple ball on a gravel surface. I say it is a deflating balloon which I saw at the end of my early morning stroll on Saturday morning. I don’t always go for a stroll on a Saturday morning, but I remembered that it was ‘World Early Stroll Day’ and I was keen to find out what I would see in the new day. There was a thunderstorm as I was waking up, the claps of thunder were loud cracking booms and the rain was heavy, so I waited for all that to end before venturing out. Work in our road is being carried out to replace the gas pipes so the smell of gas infused clay was hanging thick in the humid air and my photo journey captured that work at first. I enjoyed ignoring the red light of the traffic light outside my house and walking...

THAT BANDSTAND  PodBean Link for those who like to listen This morning the birds have already sung in the new day. The air is still, and holds the scent of almonds.   Alt text says this week’s photo is a person standing in front of a sign. I say it is me behind the bannered and flagged railings of the bandstand at Oswestry Pride saying poems out loud.   I originally gave this post the same title as this time last year before realising I was repeating myself. Changing it to ‘That Bandstand’ instead of ‘The Bandstand’ reminds me of retitling one of my poems and how it brought the object closer. I feel I can bring Oswestry bandstand closer now because I have had the joy of standing on it to deliver poems twice. I have loved bandstands ever since watching Trumpton as a child many years ago. My local park didn’t have a bandstand and it seemed wonderful and slightly exotic to my younger self that some parks actually did!   When I first started sharing my poems ...

   Turning the Calendars Over   PodBean Link for those who like to listen This morning the air smells cold. It is clear and fresh as though it has been rinsed by night. I sense floral elements, but even standing still under the blue sky and breathing deeply I cannot name them.   Alt text offers no suggestions for this week’s photo. I say it is part of each of the photos for the month of June on the two calendars I like to make each year. The #LookThere calendar has Ronnie somersaulting for joy at the Welsh coast with a wind farm out at sea, and th e #ElasticBandPhotos calendar features ‘Curled in Shade’ which shows a discarded elastic band curled on the ground. It was lovely to read a comment on social media where a viewer felt the elastic band looked as though it was hugging itself.   I like turning over the calendars at the start of each month. New pictures, new starts. An additional reminder of potential. I also ...