she opens the kitchen door
after the rain,
the garden is fresh
the air is sweet and clean.
she smells the soil,
the berries are bright.
As the dead leaves are blown away
to leave a clear white sky.
she adjusts her energy
and wants to grow
grow
black nature writing
blossom
Seen from afar,
white dressed trees
Up close, delicate white
blossom with yellowpink centres
Earthy vanilla scents
the air, Spring is sprung
Colour is Mine
After Althea McNish
Sunflowers
big and bold
inspired by Van Gogh’s
brandished
across a
yellow and white
striped field
black lines
outline floppy leaves
and dozing closed heads
bright colour carried to
this grey isle
not a luxury but a necessity
for survival
for blooming
another time
uprooted
sunflowers
National Poetry Month 2022
It’s April!
Happy Poetry Month.
I know March was all about me diving deep into The Healing Properties of the Seas, 2022 Project.
But now it’s April, I’m going to focus on my poetry writing.
April has traditionally seen me taking up the the NaPoWriMo – 30-poems-in-30-days challenge. So why change something if it isn’t broken.
Of course you’ll still be able to get your seas fix on the blog for the rest of 2022. But now I must turn my hand to poetry.
These last few days of March saw me take a much anticipated trip to London. It’s been a time filled with walking and creativity, taking in exhibitions and musicals and nature.
I plan to start off the poem a day practice with a review of the images I’ve taken of the artworks I’ve visited since down in London. So ekphrasis poetry is the order of the month.
Ekphrasis is a device used in poetry or even a type of poetry which takes a piece of artwork as it’s starting point. It involves a detailed description of the work of visual art as inspiration and then who knows where the inspiration will take the writer. But the piece of art was the seed and that recognition is credited usually with the phrase ‘ After such and such.’
I start today and I hope you will join the journey.
An Alternative Narrative
As mentioned in my last post, we have the Black Nature In Residence Showcase coming up on the evening of 28 October.
This is the first event in a series that identity on tyne through their Earth Sea Love project are collaborating with Northumberland National Park to host.
Other events offered as an alternative to the Future Landscape Programme that will run at the same tine at COP26 in Glasgow, will provide diverse voices to the environmental and conservation movement and makes those all important links between the local and global in terms of the climate crisis.
Starting on 11 November, 7.30-8.30pm – Decolonising the Environmental Movement
I’ll be hosting a conversation with Sarah Hussain and Serayna Solanki
Through their projects and research, both Sarah Hussain and Serayna
Solanki are providing spaces for marginalised communities and people of
colour to engage with nature as a means of changing the narrative around
who has a say in the Climate Change Movement. They are working within
education and research, community and organisational partnerships, to create
and highlight dialogue around climate justice through personal and community
storytelling.
Then 18 November, 7-8pm, Nature Writing Reading
Join me , as host again, with Jo Clement and Zakiya McKenzie for a reading and discussion of literature which explores place, environment, belonging and identity as both writers read from and talk about their recent collections.
Then on 22 November, 7-8pm – A keynote lecture with Grace Hull, Holistic Sustainability
What is holistic sustainability?
Grace Hull created Green Grace Soul to share her journey to living sustainably in a holistic way. Grace attempts to balance the food she eats, the products she uses and the things she buys with the most beneficial outcomes for her health, the health of the planet, and the others living on it.
Sustainable living and Climate Change activism have many faces, and by centring holistic sustainability Grace engages with intersectionality and the social and historical context of climate change through the reflections of her journey that she shares on her website, podcast and DIY projects.
This will be a keynote lecture followed by a Q and A.
Black nature in residence showcase
You might not know it but I’ve been writer in residence for Northumberland National Park. It was part of a project called Black Nature in Residence.
Led by identity on tyne, four Black writers were in residence across the North-East. As our time comes to an end, we’re ready to share about our experiences.
Come join us for an evening of words and images at our online showcase. Thursday 28 October, 6.30-8pm.
You can find our more about the project here.
And you can grab yourself a ticket for the event here.
When the wife leaves Without closing the door
In the shape of a tree,
my scar is painted with code.
Through the letting of blood, I wait
for the sound of my screams.
But what I do not plan for
is the mashed up sycamore spinners,
the trampled copper conkers
and the singed bramble bushes.
Graceless and broken,
I get high on the thoughts
of owning myself; the plumage
of starlings embroidered
on an intimate mind.
Sticky sparks
when the wind moves
between the seasons on a moonlit night
there’s just enough space for you to lie down
too narrow rooms and too narrow
thoughts
keep you trapped beneath glass
ground you ( like a freak of …)
it draws blood from your hips to stay
everything in this world you’ve touched you’ve tried to love
yet your sticky sparks dare
anyone to come close
Soulspeak
My heart is clear
listening to my gut
allowing space for my mind
to catch up
the sea is air-force blue
and glassy
and speaks to my soul
in a hushed whisper
the same sound and softness
from my clear heart
Living Wild Studios 