when everyone else has gone home and the sun is setting x
The best time to go to the beach on a bank holiday …
seas
Feeling grateful today for …
the space to breathe. Breath in and breath out.
the energy to move my body in order to gain more energy.
my scarf, hat and gloves and coat.
the money in my pocket to buy a to coffee
the sea, the waves, the seagulls, the rocks; my kin
May (SEA)Poetry
I wrote a little something after my walk yesterday in the blustery wind/ sea spray of Whitley Bay.
cold seeps into my teeth
grin in the wind/ whistles
through my ears. lost. pain/
with the tide out/ boulders revealed
i prefer the bay full/ full to the brim
like my love for the seas/ me /and you/
we crave joy. we need safety
Words: adapted from ‘Conjuring Hands: The Art of Curious Women of Color’, by gloria j. wilson, Joni Body Acuff and Venessa Lopez
we crave joy. unmediated, defined by self, not by others.
for me, joy is intertwined with the idea of ‘safety’.
for me safety means not only protection from White hands that hold sticks, stones, batons, and guns.
but also safety from White minds and from White eyes.
in the past, in attempts at safety, i have resorted to running, literally and figuratively.
i fold in on myself to avoid harmful interactions. to keep myself safe.
i’m no longer prepared to relegate myself to the corner of the room. i go to the waters seeking guidance from the ancestors, seeking safety, seeking joy.
Satda Morning Blues
Full to the brim
I got the sea, after an intense and beautiful anti-racism facilitation session with the National Trust.
At some point, I’ll unpack this experience. I just know I make a promise to myself before this last session to save something back for myself.
I give and give. I have a tendency to give in the hope to be received and receive. I give as I believe I’m here to be of service.
It is only recently that I feel that in order to keep on being of and in service, I have to give to myself, first and foremost.
So I go to the sea after this anti-racism book group session, keeping a promise to myself.
I go to the sea to heal.
To be cleansed. To be released. I save just enough energy to get me to the sea. To strip down and take the short sharp steps into the waters.
This afternoon, the sea is full to the brim.
Just like my heart after the intense and beautiful final session with the National Trust around being a good ally in a society becoming more anti-racist.
Living Wild Studios 