A GROUP OF FIGURINES AND A PICTURE OF A HEART
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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 Susan Richardson on her podcast ‘A Thousand Shades of Green’. I do of course recommend the whole collection and am delighted to be within the pages.
Last week saw the Cheshire Prize Awards for Literature Evening where the announcements were made for poetry, short stories and script writing. Livi Michael gave an interesting opening speech about her own writing and the importance of each writer’s relationship with winning and not winning. I did not get placed in the competition this time, but I loved the event. Beforehand Kath and I got to chat to lovely poets that we know and this made it all the more special. I felt a lovely sense of belonging. In the past there had been a big part of me that felt anxious at the very possibility of winning because I was so self-conscious. This part has disappeared and it was lovely to recognise this when I reflected back on what had felt particularly good about the event.
I still remember vividly when Cheryl Pearson’s poem ‘The Cartographer’s Daughter’ won the competition in 2016. Ian McMillan was presenting the prizes and he did a wonderful build up to us finding out which poem had been selected. I loved the feeling of anticipation before he read the whole poem out loud and the feeling of celebration and admiration in the room. Looking at the back of the anthology from that event I see the names of the poetry tribe that gathered in the foyer this year and it makes me smile. All of us still finding joy in writing and entering competitions.
Huge congratulations to Helen Kay who won this year’s prize. Strange to think that the pandemic interrupted our plans to bring additional poetry opportunities to young people. Also lovely to remember fondly with Angela Topping the poetry she brought to the young people I worked with and how this led to Poetry Suppers and celebratory anthologies. Good too that my work comes full circle now and I am fortunate to be involved in the work of Sidhe Press to collate the writing of a group of talented young poets. There are poems that I absolutely love in the work that is being sent through and one in particular that has stayed with me since the first reading. It’s one of those poems where you can feel the power of setting down the words and the way they vibrate from the page with the energy they hold whilst being set down. I hope one day to tell that young poet just how much I admire their writing.
There’s something about getting positive feedback about poetry that feels completely heartfelt to me; that glorious recognition of the way words capture something which resonates with another person. I’ll keep entering competitions that catch my eye and keep on enjoying the glow that comes from positive feedback in any shape or form.
If you’ve been following this blog you will know it is my way of holding myself accountable whilst I change career. I have learned a lot about my relationship with recognition and overthinking during my coaching journey and it is nice to feel the spark from this learning. Spending two days at a wide variety of online coaching events last week gave me a wonderful opportunity to reflect and continue my learning. Here’s a big part of what I do... I help people regain clarity. And that seems fair since I regained mine.
Here's to joy and clarity and letting someone know if you like something they are doing well.
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