Singing as the Darkness Lifts

BETTER TO BE BORN LUCKY THAN RICH  PodBean Listening Link   This morning the air brings gentle hints of autumn. It holds coolness and damp. The seasons are shifting.   Alt text says this week’s photo is a person standing in front of a display of knitted clothes. I say it is, and that it is me in front of some of Kath’s designs at Wonderwool Wales. I also say that alt text missed the fact that I am wearing my Dolly Parton t-shirt. This is an older photo, but one which seems suited to this blog. The title for this blog, better to be born lucky than rich , is one of my nan’s sayings. And whenever it rings in my ears it brings a smile to my face. Luck has given me things that I could never buy. And that t-shirt has led to many conversations with a whole host of good people. Back in 2011 I opened an email and cried tears of joy. It was my Golden Ticket, my Charlie Bucket Moment. As a child I loved the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the thought...

LOOKING FOR A SIGN       PodBean Listening Link. This morning the ground is damp, and the birds are singing unhurried songs. The air is fresh and floral; a light mixture of flowers and grass.   Alt text says this week’s photo is a stuffed animal in the air, and indeed it is. It is a blurred Ronnie jumping for joy by a bridge in Port Sunlight. My eyes were a little blurry when taking the photo and I didn’t really realise that he was quite so out of focus until I checked the photos later on! (Note to self... don’t catch up with reading things on the phone during car journeys when your wife is driving without putting the reading glasses on because it makes your eyes feel strained, tired and a wee bit blurry.)   There was a partial eclipse this week, which was marked by brother and sister colanders, jacket potatoes , a dragonfly fly-by, bat swoops and shooting stars. That’s a lovely kind of eclipse evening.   And this weekend I was feelin...

LOGANBERRIES   PodBean Listening Link This morning the air smells of minty toothpaste and traffic. It has elements of autumnal coolness in it as the sun begins to establish itself in the sky. Alt text is not available to offer a suggestion for this week’s photo content. I say it is Ronnie having a photo shoot with some hotel curtains as background in order to add some interest and depth to some hurried photos of blackberries and raspberries. In the back garden whilst marvelling at how a great forest of borage self-seeds each year I noticed that the autumn fruiting raspberries were beginning to ripen. This had me spinning me back in time to my nan giving me my first loganberry. I loved this large firm fruit with its clearly hollowed core and the way it brought my favourite taste of raspberries and mixed this with the depth of blackberries without bringing the tartness of those bramble fruits. I loved those hands that offered it to me and the love that always radiated from my n...

IT’S TIN, IT’S POTTERY, IT’S PEARL   This morning the warm air brings the scent of coffee underscored by rich dark chocolate. I stand still to linger in the moment and breathe deeply.   Alt text says this week’s photo is of a stuffed animal in a bush of yellow flowers. I say it is Ronnie ‘pre-cataracts’ ignoring the fact that there are lots of spines on gorse bushes while posing for a photo at The Great Orme. This is also the photo for August on the #LookThere calendar this year. The photograph was taken during my MA when I was exploring locations for my video poems as part of my reading poetry aloud project. The project included putting together a collection of short poems which could then be read by me and by someone else. The idea was to compare the two readings and also address my nerves around reading out loud. It was a fun and interesting way to explore poetry performance, and I have fond memories of bringing the work together and of the people...