Thoughts of a Soo

Reflections (47) PodBean Link for those who like to listen This morning the air in someone else’s town smells cool and fresh. Last night it smelt hot and sulphurous, and I admire the way the night has washed it clean. Alt text tells me this week’s photo is, a stuffed animal in a mirror. I say it is the perfect picture of Ronnie looking at himself in a mirror to accompany this week’s blog post about reflection. This past week I have been in and out of a reflective essay as I work towards completing the ‘ILM Level 7 Diploma for Executive and Senior Level Coaches’. I have learned not to wash the windows, clean the car or hoover to distract myself from setting down words in the right order. I have also learned to read (really read) the criteria. This has been huge for me because I have a tendency to skim read and think I know what I need to do. I then go off and write merrily and create a meandering stream that feels fun to write before I realise that this wasn...

  Spray Painted Shirts, Sun and Seasides (46) PodBean Link for those who like to listen This morning lavender is the first scent. Fine drizzle hangs in the air as a magpie sounds its rattle. Alt text says this week’s photo is a stuffed animal in the air. I say it is Ronnie jumping for joy on a walk between Birchington-on-Sea and Cliftonville. It was a perfect walk. Made so by the company of my sister, the coast, the sun, the chips, the ice-cream. I loved it all. And no shin splints! It was one of the longest walks I have done for quite some time and I felt proud that I could do it. I am contemplating making sure that any walks that take me again beyond the 16km mark should feature chips and ice-cream. I joked to my friend Lyn that maybe those treats were what stopped my legs aching the next day. In reality my regular weekly walks have been helping even though they are nowhere near as long as that. Sunscreen, I recommend sunscreen for such w...

  The Clock Ticks Louder Now (45) PodBean Link for those who like to listen This morning herring gulls are calling in the scent of salt on a sea breeze. It is fresh with floral elements and the sun promises heat. Alt texts provides an accurate description of this week’s photo: A red clock with white numbers. I say it is the actual clock that played a part in inspiring one of my recent poems. The poem is called ‘The Clock Ticks Louder Now’ and it was selected by Alan Parry for the inaugural episode of The Coffeehouse Podcast . I do love being on a podcast. Alan reads the poem beautifully and it was wonderful to listen to it featured there as one of the ten poems. I loved the fact that the episode made the perfect accompaniment to a lazy breakfast of tea and toast. I like to find the perfect slots for podcast listening. Three of my regular listens are:   ‘Eat the Storms’ poetry podcast, with tea and cake for Saturday teatime; ‘A Thousand Shades ...

  A group of figurines and a picture of a heart (44) PodBean Link for those who like to listen This morning it takes me a while to find the scent. It is tea roses rising on cool damp air. I have two special pint glasses for my daily water. One with ‘Coach’ engraved on it and one with ‘Poet’. And I like things in jars. Sometimes I know exactly which of the pint glasses matches my day and sometimes I have a mix of the two. It is quite rare lately not to have one or the other feature in my days. Alt text says this week’s photo is ‘A group of figurines and a picture of a heart’. I say it is a pamphlet of poems with the title ‘Untamed Love’ and that I loved taking some things out of jars to create this image. Alan Parry, editor at ‘The Broken Spine’ has curated a lovely collection of work by the 14 poets featured in Wave 1 of ‘The Whiskey Tree’. My favourite poem from this collection is currently Mary Earnshaw’s ‘Lost and Found’. It was beautifully read by Sus...

Running Away with the Circus Podbean Link for those who like to listen The morning's air is fresh. I can't get any particular sense of smell apart from fresh this morning, maybe because my eyes were reluctant to open after vivid dreams (the kind that wouldn't make good poems) but I am noticing colour. The sky is grey and the lawn is speckled with yellow buttercups and purple clover flowers. This weekend saw my first yarn show in a ‘circus tent’. I felt inspired by the surroundings and recorded my poem ‘Blade’ with the tent as a backdrop. The poem is one of those that evolved from a seven minute write. I have always liked a timed free write, but I credit Caroline Bird for the seven minute timescale. I am pretty sure that’s how long she gives writers after delivering a prompt. It works for me because I can be completely focused for that amount of time and love seeing what can begin to emerge in ‘half a tea break’.  To write 'Blade' I saved a l...