Hey hey hey.
What’s happening? I’ve been on a social media hiatus. I’ve been leaning into Summer. I’ve been going slow. And it continues at least until the end of August. And then I’ll reassess.
What I have decided is that September is going to be 30/30. Thirty poems in thirty days. Why? Because I’m always thinking I’m not writing enough. Because I’m excited to write when I’m inspired to write. Usually through reading other people’s poetry.
If I’m not reading. I’m not writing. And I’m a writer because I’m a reader. I want to generate new work and what better way to do that than to get in amongst language and play. Work out a few issues and have fun doing so.
So I hope to see you back here at the beginning of September to share in the creations.
Living Wild Studios 
Hello there Sheree, good to hear from you. And to know that you have plans – though I have to say that you have the habit of setting yourself what sound like exhausting targets. Could you not consider writing every day for an hour or so, for a month and then reviewing it? You might have 6 or 10 or a couple of good pieces. Why are number targets so important? But feel free to ignore!
I can’t remember whether or not I told you my momentous news. Not getting stuck in Dubai or the new flat – which we’ve settled into and are enjoying. But that during lockdown, through Ancestry DNA I found a half-brother, Stuart, eighteen months older than me. It has been great to savour the idea and the word ‘brother’ . He lives in Spain and has been there about 18 years. We have spoken regularly on Wats Ap, so have seen each other too. But in July, when Covid rules lifted, he came to England to stay with his daughters for a month. During this time, one Sunday we met with him and his family for the first time half way between Solihull and Bromley – which turned out to be a pub garden near Henley on Thames for lunch. It was all very exciting and went well. Later, he came to stay for a while which allowed us to get to know each other further. I’m still processing that experience and hope that I may be able to express it one day. Perhaps your title “It’s been a while…” would be an appropriate starting point.
In addition, we have both been trying to pin down the unknown father that we both share. We have both sent for our mothers’ WAAF records to find out where they were stationed and when. Through Ancestry, we have both been able to confirm the DNA matches and ethnicity that we have in common – some shared Irish great-grandparents from Armagh who migrated to England and settled in Lancashire and then spread out from there. Through this paternal Blevins line we will eventually discover our grandparents – but they had such big families, it makes it more difficult. There are also a few father contenders, (right age, gender etc) which we’re in the process of culling further, though there is one in particular who was also in the forces and could have been stationed at or in the vicinity of the same bases as our mothers; especially in the build up to D-Day. So we’re on the case together now.
Hope you are Ok and happy as the picture you posted suggests. Love Maggie xx
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Hi Maggie
How lovely to hear from you. Thanks for your suggestion. But it isn’t so much about the number targets. It’s never about that. It’s about giving myself permission to immerse myself in poetry for a month and explore the process. It’s a container. And BYW I already write every day for an hour or so. I just don’t post here every day.
It’s exciting to know you have a brother and are finding the time and space to get to know each other. I’ve always said the hunt for parents, is like a detective novel or task. The clues that can add up to a fuller picture if not a full one. Enjoy the process and your family’s
Best Sheree x
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