Many people have mentioned how strange time seems during this period of lockdown. I experience it as a paradox. Like a river with contradictory currents, it’s flowing slowly and quickly… read more →
People keep commenting on the prevalence of birdsong during these lock-down days. Perhaps it really is louder and closer or maybe it’s just the reduction of background noise makes it… read more →
There’s an area of ancient woodland at the bottom of the back-to-back suburban gardens in our corner of Canterbury. It stretches along the side of a valley that’s part of… read more →
I’m blogging today whilst working on stories, whilst making marmalade, whilst feeling poetry bubbling up alongside the pith and peel in the pan. Last autumn was for me, in the… read more →
This disarmingly simple poem by Lisel Mueller is called Curriculum Vitae and describes a long life in 20 short stanzas with allusions to the great events of history. The… read more →
The half-way point of the year has passed. The longest day was celebrated at two labyrinths. The garden is starting to ‘go over’ partly because of the hot, dry, sunny… read more →
I can’t keep out of the garden. I am not a natural gardener – ‘gardening’ feels a bit domestic for my taste, all that taming and tidying, a bit like… read more →
In poetry therapy and expressive writing groups, loss is always close to the surface and informs much of what it is we want or need to write about. As Kahlil… read more →
Here’s a blog about the first, and so far, only, film I’ve seen this year – Paterson by Jim Jarmusch. My mentor-supervisor, Geri Chavis often uses film in her… read more →
It’s beautifully brrr in Kent at the moment – still freezing at 11am with bright blue skies. Last night, I went to hear Andy Miller (who is not Andrew Miller) speak… read more →