There was a long stretch when I didn't seem to be dreaming. Certainly, I couldn't remember any dreams when I woke in the morning. I can't pinpoint when this began, but it bothered me. There'd been a period, many years ago, when I'd kept a dream diary of sorts, but I'd fallen out of the …
Category: musings
busy elsewhere
Three months to the day since my last blog post! What on earth have I been doing? My biggest news, in case you missed it, is that fellow poet Joolz Sparkes and I have been awarded Arts Council research & development funding for our London Undercurrents project. This has been my main focus since September, …
notes towards a blog post
scatterbrain I'm not feeling very focussed at the moment. ARTEMISpoetry Hurrah! I have a poem accepted for the next issue of ARTEMISpoetry, due out in May. Re-Mixed borders e-pamphlet It seems a long time ago that I was poet-in-residence at Thrive in Battersea Park for Open Gardens Weekend 2016. Now The Poetry School has published …
both ordinary and extraordinary
I went to a talk recently, organised by the Battersea Society, about an unlikely pair of spinster sisters, Ida and Louise Cook, who helped at least 29 Jewish people escape Nazi Germany before the outbreak of the Second World War. The invited speaker was Louise Carpenter. She'd researched the sisters for a potential biography but …
before dawn
I woke before dawn and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up, made myself a cup of tea and sat on the window ledge in the studio with a blank sheet of paper and my pen. I wrote whatever came into my mind - which was mostly those things which were already in …
autumn makeover
Don't panic!* I've finally bitten the bullet and revamped the look of my blog. It's been on my mental 'to do' list for ages. My top 'want' was a larger and more readable font. I've gone for a similar layout and taken the opportunity to change the header image - something I may do more …
chaps
When I was growing up, my family referred to our soft toys as 'chaps'. As far as I'm aware, this is a family coinage, rather than a generally accepted term for teddies and other cuddly beings. I'm not, on the whole, nostalgic for my childhood, which says a lot more about me than about my …
rhythm and balance
or balance and rhythm. Two key elements in any good piece of writing. And thinking about time, how I use it, how to structure it, I realise this is what I'm aiming for: rhythm and balance. I'm resistant to timetables. The word 'routine' gives me the horrors. But balance and rhythm — yes, these feel …
pale green fingers
Gardens and gardening have been a bit of a them this year. There was the Poetry School's Mixed Borders scheme, which didn't quite work out for me, and my continuing involvement with my local community roof garden. That involvement always felt rather timid and tentative to me, all tied up with my own insecurities and …
this rose
This rose knows nothing about Paris, Raqqa, global pain. This rose is silent. It is a wordless song of colour and perfume. This rose is not aware of climate change. It blooms when it is ready. Mid November - why not? This rose grows on a rooftop in Battersea. When the garden is shut it …
Hilaire 