Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Monday, November 2, 2020

The Turf

 2nd November 2020

My thoughts turn to my grandmother on this Feast of All Souls. 

So, a little poem:


Warmth


What makes me feel warm inside?

I think of my grandmother.

It's the days leading up to Christmas.

She sits in front of the range - for warmth

She picks up a turf sod lying in the basket,

To feed the oven,

Her hands hardened by farm work, by family life,

I help her, pick up my own lump of turf

Turf that Uncle Timmy dug from the bog,

 the previous autumn

It Feels hairy to the touch, rough against my fingers,

not like the regular, smooth edges

of factory brickets,

We take turns, my nan and I, to place a sod in the fire

without words we feed our story, make it rich.

Flames give a glow to her - already pink cheeks.

When the roar reminds us "enough for now",

She sits back, smiles, and for while,

retells old tales of family long ago,

 linking the threads,

 lost in the mist of shared Ancestors

I wipe my eyes, reach for another sod,

And know who I am.




 

Saturday, January 6, 2018

TToT

6th Jan 2018

Today folks I'm joining in with the Ten Things of Thankful brigade. If you want to do this too just put it into google and away you go. Then link up to share with the others.
The idea is to look back over the last week and find ten things that you can be thankful for .

So, let's make a start:

1 Firstly I feel so blessed to have a wonderful family - yes, there's a lot of us but I love each and every one enormously and am so very proud of them. 
2 In particular I am thankful for my darling husband of forty five years who is such a treasure . Always there for me or any of our loved ones. 
3 I am thankful that I live by the sea. I went out twice this week for walks with my gorgeous daughter.
4 I am thankful that I got three new writing journals for Christmas - that'll keep me going. 
5 I'm thankful that I got to a writing for wellbeing workshop yesterday - it always inspires me, hence...
6 I am thankful for having some time to myself today - not much, but it was needed and valuable.
7 I'm thankful for that radio programme that I got to enjoy - it was totally unexpected.
8 I am thankful that, although I've put on a few pounds over the Christmas time, I couldstill get into that dress i wanted to wear today - I did wonder if I would. 
9 I'm thankful for the comments that some lovely people have posted on my blog these last few days - it's always so uplifting to know that somebody is reading the rubbish I write.
10 I'm thankful for my friends  - whom I love and must try to see more often 

Well, that just dribbled out .
Now it's your turn.
It does make you think .
It also makes you realise that there are so many things that are good in your life.

Monday, December 7, 2015

2nd day of response - What On Earth Comes Over Us

Day two of answering "A Poem A Day " . So, look to the end to find poem from 2nd April.
And my response:
 

What On Earth Comes Over Us

Waves of Christmas music drift through my head,
It's that time of year again - happiness, tiredness, dread
That things won't all go right.

Where's the list I wrote last night , what shall I get for Aunty Chris?
What size turkey shall we have? Or this year shall we give it a miss,
Oh, I am in a terrible plight.

But what is the whole thing really about, why do we make such a fuss?
Why is the whole world celebrating , what on earth comes over us?
It's only remembering a baby's birth and that happens every day,
But this little baby changed everything as he lay on the soft , dry hay



A poem I wrote yesterday, just for the craic:

JUST SAYING

Love is you taking the bins out,
And noticing what's behind that bout,
Of anger.
Just saying...
Attentive too to times of tiredness,
Not minding that I've not got dressed,
But languor.
Just saying...
Knowing I like a different channel to you,
Giving me my chance as well to view,
For longer
Just saying...
And when the opportunity arises and we're able,
Taking me to dinner to sit at table,
And romance me for ever,
Just saying,






Day 2 of the challenge "a poem a day in April".

                     This April Day

Look out to sea this April Day.
See the horizon curve
Across wide water.
Waves churned by wind,
Break on shores,
Sculpt  fresh  forms.
And wind turbines,
 Like catherine wheels
Turn to the tune,
Of spring.







And just to keep you going, another little story:




                               The Torch                                                      

“What’re you doing?”  Rob moaned sleepily, falling into the middle of the blow up bed, his elbows and knees hitting the cold, hard floor, as Liz stumbled over him.
“I’ve got to go to the loo,” she whispered, groping in the dark, “where’s the torch?”
Rob’s hands felt in the pocket at the side of the inner tent.
“Here,” he said, clicking on the Tesco pocket-torch and holding it up.
“Thanks,” she grabbed it, pointed it at the zipper and quickly opened it.
            She stepped quietly into the outer tent area so as not to waken the girls, whose low, rhythmic breathing assured her they were fast asleep. With the sound of rain on the canvas roof echoing in her head, Liz got on hands and knees and searched for her wellies. Next she slowly swept the torch in a circle. Now, where was her coat? Finding it on the back of a chair she shivered as she put her arms into the damp armholes, making a mental note that she must keep her clothes inside at night.
Wellies and raincoat on, she ventured outside onto the wet grass. Lifting her face to the moon, half hidden in cloud, she noticed that what she thought was rain was only drizzle. From the din inside the tent she expected a downpour.  Another sound, dull and repetitive, drifted from one of the other tents. Someone was snoring. 
Liz held the torch tightly in her clammy hands. She could see only a few yards in front of her, everything else left in unknowable darkness. She picked her way through the first of the two fields she had to get through. A feint smell of smoke from the bonfire of the previous evening wafted in the air, reminding her of the BBQ, the wine and friends singing late into the night. The only reason she’d agreed to this camping trip. 
As she continued on, the occasional sound of cracking twigs from the woods around her broke the silence and made her start.  She tried not to imagine what might be lurking in the black.  Pulling her coat tight around her shoulders she quickened her pace, grateful there was a pathway to follow and greatly relieved when the lights from the toilet block came into view.
On the way back to her tent she wondered if this would be the first and only time she went camping. What she knew for sure was that if they came again they would have to get a more powerful torch.


Now i have to put my think cap on and get writing the poem for tomorrow.

See you then.




Monday, November 16, 2015

COUNTDOWN

COUNTDOWN

I have just seen the countdown
To Christmas.
Thirty eight days, six hours, thirty four minutes
And forty seven seconds...
Of course , it's less now
And will be every moment..
Why count the days
So fervently, so expectantly...?
Why put such pressure before
Limited brains...
Money must be spent-
Presents, food, clothes.
Many will be paying back
For many months to come
And all for a day
A day when we remember,
Or do we,
A little baby's  birth.