A little singing
Cold windy weather today after bright blue skies over Christmas. A time to take stock, tidy up a bit, or, if you are the dog, lie flat out on the sofa, legs in the air, snoring. It’s been a back-to-back week of celebration beginning [...]
Box full of darkness
We are fast approaching the shortest day. Thank goodness – or at least I do – for the distraction of Christmas and the gift of bright, cold weather in Kent that lifts the spirits. Not long to go until the solstice, Christmas itself and then [...]
A woman like that is misunderstood
Here’s a famous poem by Anne Sexton. Her Kind explores with the hinterland between sanity and madness with a specifically female take. - and it’s a popular one for bloggers. Of course, every history is different and in some ways the poem is dated, [...]
He too set me the riddle
I was going to blog on the new book by my dear friend and colleague Niall Hickey of Maynooth in Ireland. But I've had vivid dreams recently, of people from well in the past, including, my paternal grandad who is asking me to think [...]
Dark, too, blooms
I dislike the closing-in of the evenings at this time of year. The way dusk comes earlier and earlier each day feels oppressive, as if someone’s lowering a lid over the world. Yes, there are compensations – I like seeing the dawn and once Christmas [...]
A bus says
After yesterday, I’ve been thinking about community – something about civilisation and the wild – support and restrictions … That’s made me think about taking the bus and Adrian Mitchell’s poem ‘Yes’, which has the verse: The kangaroo says: Trampoline. Giraffes say: Tree. A bus [...]
