tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80275186488377844442024-03-14T03:12:45.830+00:00Sarah de Nordwall's Blog - Poetry Opens the WorldSarah de Nordwall is a rhapsodic theatre performer, poet and poetry workshop leader based in London, UK.Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-55536770560713658202022-02-18T20:48:00.002+00:002022-02-18T23:23:14.697+00:00The Four Winds in Cuatro Vientos - A Haiku Cluster <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(254, 253, 250); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">After experiencing</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">storm Eunice today in England, I happened upon a poem I wrote about another storm I lived through, over a decade ago, in Spain. Interestingly the place happened to be called "Four Winds" in Spanish!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(254, 253, 250); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">But by far the more
powerful force was not the extraordinary wind and rain, but the beautiful and transforming power
of something more remarkable - the silent prayer of 2 million people kneeling in adoration in the middle of a storm.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(254, 253, 250); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(254, 253, 250); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Wild winds awaken</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(254, 253, 250); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">What duty and chaos dulled</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
in the concrete world.<br />
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</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2 million kneel</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
To touch the softening earth</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
as heaven descends.<br />
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</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This greater silence</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
Opens the heart of worship</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
and our souls revive.<br />
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around us the storm</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
dies as our peace is quickened</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
and the Spirit rests.</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
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What is our bard work for?</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
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Waking the spirit</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
Watering the thirsty ground</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
Reviving the soul</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
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Drenching the hard earth</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
Softening the soil with storm</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
till the Spirit leaps.<br />
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Write and reveal</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
The ground of your own being</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
And you touch the Lord.</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><b>This cluster of haikus was written </b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">3 days </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">after attending the great vigil of silent prayer with Pope Benedict XVI and two million others all kneeling on the bare earth. </span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Sarah de Nordwall </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> August </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">2011</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(254, 253, 250); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 16pt; letter-spacing: -1.9pt;"> </span></b></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></p>Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-16421807031906694822021-02-17T08:18:00.000+00:002021-02-17T08:18:05.224+00:00Finding the Hidden Spring - a Creative Writing Course for Lent starting on Ash Wednesday at 10am<p> You are so welcome to the Taster Session of our Finding the Hidden Spring this Wednesday at 10am to 11.30am</p><p>You will amazed what riches you find within you when you pick up a pen with fellow travellers and respond to poems, mystics and Scriptures. </p><p>Our Zoom ID is 815 4546 3215 </p><p>See if the course is for you today and then sign up for the next 5 sessions. We already have a wonderful collection of pilgrims making the journey together.</p><p>You'll receive plenty of encouragement and inspired poems to spring from. Your words might just unlock something for yourself and for others.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNrFWK7bhbMF3P5BX4KrVkkjP8nxo3v07MOl6xH6IIFNg_zJNilTH7kaKV16KmC5HO9qo_9ng5aXfJ-mOPR_6pJnpaEbQSaHyCxkDC0T6cnxLWpWABuDf55Q1yx0GsS97HwaVoFkmPHzA/s276/En-Gedi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNrFWK7bhbMF3P5BX4KrVkkjP8nxo3v07MOl6xH6IIFNg_zJNilTH7kaKV16KmC5HO9qo_9ng5aXfJ-mOPR_6pJnpaEbQSaHyCxkDC0T6cnxLWpWABuDf55Q1yx0GsS97HwaVoFkmPHzA/s0/En-Gedi.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">En-Gedi</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Just write to bardschool@gmail.com or turn up today! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-74555031709480156742020-10-01T23:30:00.000+01:002020-10-01T23:30:10.377+01:00National Poetry Day celebration on Saturday October 3rd - When Joy Begins<p> The Bards of the Bard School and friends would love to invite you to their 4th Bardic Mic Night since lockdown... held on zoom, but surprisingly nonetheless soulful and nourishing!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv91B82bFl2P-dWgBHR6J4L52Qx1oqW0Qtp-iaXlSH4O7UZDNJ1pQRkkjt8tczjermzQQyqnHXFtnjHhzivjOtfjlod3TaG2GQ4R_884WiqGcbC2W6WR1kCf4JAMjL1oimuENoKyl1EtlL/s640/Oct+3rd+long+image.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv91B82bFl2P-dWgBHR6J4L52Qx1oqW0Qtp-iaXlSH4O7UZDNJ1pQRkkjt8tczjermzQQyqnHXFtnjHhzivjOtfjlod3TaG2GQ4R_884WiqGcbC2W6WR1kCf4JAMjL1oimuENoKyl1EtlL/s320/Oct+3rd+long+image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>The theme of National Poetry Day this year is Vision... </p><p>Our mic night name comes from a beautiful Jewish prayer that I was taught by Carmelite hermits when I travelled to Nova Scotia many years ago. </p><p>"It is already night when joy begins</p><p>the Sabbath is at hand</p><p>And a beautifying surplus of soul visits our mortal bones</p><p>And lingers on."</p><p><br /></p><p>And may it be so with you. </p><p><br /></p><p>See you there! Saturday 3rd October doors open 6.45pm UK time.</p><p>Zoom ID 858 1275 6667</p><p>Pay on the Day. </p>Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-24606339681283464892020-05-11T17:43:00.000+01:002020-05-11T17:49:47.420+01:00A listener's review of audio book<br />
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<a class="a-link-normal" href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R99COLXZYC2PV/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07G215SF6" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0066c0;" title="5.0 out of 5 stars"><i class="a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating" data-hook="review-star-rating" style="background-image: url("https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/AUIClients/AmazonUIBaseCSS-sprite_1x-7233320d393c05a5508cf7d579641c4b327cbda4._V2_.png"); background-position: -5px -368px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 400px 900px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 18px; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; width: 80px;"><span class="a-icon-alt" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-size: inherit; height: 18px; left: auto; line-height: normal; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: auto; width: 80px;">5.0 out of 5 stars</span></i></a><span class="a-letter-space" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; width: 0.385em;"></span><a class="a-size-base a-link-normal review-title a-color-base a-text-bold" data-hook="review-title" href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R99COLXZYC2PV/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07G215SF6" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-weight: 700; line-height: 19px;">Buy it! Read it! Listen to it!! Treasure lies within!!!</a><br />
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<span class="a-color-secondary" data-hook="format-strip-linkless" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(85 , 85 , 85);">Format: Audio Download</span><i aria-label="|" class="a-icon a-icon-text-separator" role="img" style="background-color: #dddddd; background-image: url("https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/AUIClients/AmazonUIBaseCSS-sprite_1x-7233320d393c05a5508cf7d579641c4b327cbda4._V2_.png"); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 400px 900px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 14px; line-height: 0; margin: -2px 0.67375em 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 1px;"></i><span class="a-size-mini a-color-state a-text-bold" data-hook="avp-badge-linkless" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(196 , 85 , 0); font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.465;">Verified Purchase</span></div>
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</span>50 Poems for my 50th - A Beginner’s guide to opening the world with words.</div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">"Sarah's beautiful and transportive audiobook sings in the heart long after listening to it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I find it s</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">imultaneously challenges one to think and puts the heart back together in a magical and loving way. Her poetry is at once expressive and delicately tender, proving a valued ally for one’s journey along whatever path of life one chooses. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I think her wit, charm and erudite use of metaphor adds colour equally to an innocent tone-poem or a more philosophical dialectical study. I find Sarah’s character in her work speaks volumes about her approach to life :- add humour and loving presence; hey presto: joy!!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /> Her spiritual insight is precious and timeless, as seen in the hermit story or ‘a black sheep’. Her newer work is often more pensive and poignant but her wisdom-being always shines through."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">You can buy the audio book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B07G7D8C3T?_encoding=UTF8&node=492564011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank">here </a></span></div>
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Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-49226821643415772062019-10-03T13:48:00.001+01:002019-10-03T13:48:16.988+01:00Tell me Something Beautiful about Truth!Happy National Poetry Day! <br />
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You are invited<br />
to a show and a challenge on Saturday 5th October 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DAjNI9xhFLwFCt047PZAnUIi1J5wKzRktFXEEskAv3Sgy90kKcNyBQyjZfngSD61ub_Md2i7mLgLAt0rwnma8x02zKrBuuRYzRleYbZFph_E7lFdKPLY5fDwGX5cDIMy_VrKWEILMQtv/s1600/street+of+prophets2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DAjNI9xhFLwFCt047PZAnUIi1J5wKzRktFXEEskAv3Sgy90kKcNyBQyjZfngSD61ub_Md2i7mLgLAt0rwnma8x02zKrBuuRYzRleYbZFph_E7lFdKPLY5fDwGX5cDIMy_VrKWEILMQtv/s320/street+of+prophets2.JPG" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /></a></div><br />
Tell me something beautiful about truth!<br />
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This year the theme of National Poetry Day is Truth.<br />
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We are surrounded by different kinds of prophets of doom and catastrophe, division and disaster. So, in the midst of the maelstrom that is British and Global politics, Bard Sarah de Nordwall invites us to dig deep and find the climate of unchangeable joy from which the action springs. Come and enjoy an exuberant evening of poems and stories after which YOU get to take the initiative…respond and perform.<br />
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7pm Arrival – drinks and nibbles - song from Sajid <br />
7.30pm Sarah’s performance (45 mins)<br />
8.15pm Drinks and time to write in response to poems (30 mins)<br />
8.45pm Audience Open Mic – must be written on the night!<br />
Followed by Closing set from Sarah<br />
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@ the hall attached to farm street church<br />
114 Mount street W1K 3AH <br />
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7pm for 7.30pm nearest tube green park<br />
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If you book, the price is £10. £7 concessions. <br />
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Tickets on the door £15 Drinks and nibbles included in the price. Book through bardschool@gmail.com or call 07849 641 899<br />
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Just pay cash on the door! Remember, if you have booked, your name will be on the list and it's only £10. £15 if you just turn up.<br />
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Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-40294125105317171952018-12-07T00:19:00.000+00:002018-12-07T00:36:30.737+00:00A stunning teen book - unlike any other - The Siege of Reginald Hill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ksh-9cJkXV51X1dqJ18EtmIhbYdoaXTnNudEFjzCpaQWtyzqaeXSugwU3-ZBeR-M6HUYLQR1CpMBXq6vRX8pEqJKxrFjDr3aFxgIIHvpFvXE_R31yLmIA6hZ13_aE1MrIdQsu1NieIrf/s1600/The+Siege+of+Reginald+Hill+Final+Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ksh-9cJkXV51X1dqJ18EtmIhbYdoaXTnNudEFjzCpaQWtyzqaeXSugwU3-ZBeR-M6HUYLQR1CpMBXq6vRX8pEqJKxrFjDr3aFxgIIHvpFvXE_R31yLmIA6hZ13_aE1MrIdQsu1NieIrf/s320/The+Siege+of+Reginald+Hill+Final+Front.jpg" width="202" height="320" data-original-width="1008" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div><br />
Well, I've broken my blog silence since National Poetry Day, as I've been happily occupied with creative writing projects on a brick brutalist housing estate in Colindale and other contrasting workshop experiences, (such as a gourmet cheese and wine poetry and photography event in Pistachio and Pickle, Islington) to tell you about a book that I think everyone should read. <br />
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I read it at a single sitting and if you can see the pages through the tears, I'll be very interested to hear if you think there are such possibilities of the human heart expressed in any other teen book on the market, anywhere, unless of course it is written by Corinna Turner.<br />
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It's impossible not to want to find out how the central characters - the young priest and his torturer - resolve their extraordinary relationship. It's remarkable to find revealed from the very early pages of the book, experiences of grace, so convincingly described and in such hostile settings. It's also impossible not to want to have the qualities that the main character displays and it will stretch the desires of anyone reading, whether teen or adult.<br />
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So I'm not going to describe the dystopian world of the series, because when it begins, the Sorting of humans for recycling is a thing of the past. Faith is now legal but hatred and resentments remain that will find a horrific expression, but lead to encounters of the most incredible tenderness.<br />
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If this book is in the Christmas stockings of teenagers, or of adults who feel jaded or sceptical when hearing about sacrifice, heroism or the unimaginable greatness of Love, then it will be just where it needs to be. Rarely are such experiences packed into compelling page-turners, so make a list of people in need of an emotional and spiritual boost and include yourself on the list, because you'll be amazed what you discover in your own heart, as you make your way to the final page.<br />
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You can buy it <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+siege+of+reginald+hill&sprefix=the+siege+of+reginald+%2Caps%2C129&crid=L3PO4QV4QEF1">in print or kindle version here</a> <br />
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Corinna - you're a wonder - and I'm still remembering with fondness the chats in your camper van with tea, as the rain beat down on the roof, in a very muddy field in Norfolk. So glad to have discovered both you and your writing. I'm now off to get the rest of the series which, can be found in the CTS shop in Victoria, but also <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Am-Margaret-Corinna-Turner/dp/1903858046/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544141635&sr=8-1&keywords=i+am+margaret">here</a>. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5r8yDjRDtv7NNGJKKlD1dc3nHJjHPKJwwkgp7pL8sNNUK1QP5osO5c4XbMPL_Hw1AYPrZOkLES-79d4qa5JSDPIfkQ45OEQ4XK6R1j_EUK4FphNp9C_bHJGCi4feF2TwYD7GDJxE2Q3b_/s1600/Blog+Tour+meme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5r8yDjRDtv7NNGJKKlD1dc3nHJjHPKJwwkgp7pL8sNNUK1QP5osO5c4XbMPL_Hw1AYPrZOkLES-79d4qa5JSDPIfkQ45OEQ4XK6R1j_EUK4FphNp9C_bHJGCi4feF2TwYD7GDJxE2Q3b_/s320/Blog+Tour+meme.jpg" width="320" height="152" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="760" /></a></div>Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-7713115363508651062018-10-03T21:38:00.002+01:002018-10-03T21:42:46.387+01:00Growing into Old - a poem by my friend Sally Graham <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Well, here we are on the eve of </span><a href="https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/celebrate-national-poetry-day/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">National Poetry Day</a><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> and my friend Sally has just read me a poem she's written called 'Growing into Old.' </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As Sally is in her 80s, but with more energy than 3 people half her age, I thought it would be a lovely, hopeful poem to put up for the day itself, whose theme is Change.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Growing into Old</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Growing into old, expanding to fulness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The gathering harvest ripe, savoured, mellow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">No longings for the fragile shoots of youth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The struggle to reach up to the light<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">No shadows steal it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Every leaf caressed by light<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Light which filters twixt the branches<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Reaches to the sap still rising<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Life vigorous<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The seasons gentler<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The urgent passion to hold on, gone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The soaring spirit free now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">To chant a vibrant joyful love-song to the ever-growing years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By Sally Graham<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Sally is presently enjoying spending more time writing the story of her time in Africa with the Karamojong - a warrior tribe in North East Uganda - working with village midwives. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Here are some of the VMM stories and new work opportunities <a href="http://www.vmminternational.org/" target="_blank">http://www.vmminternational.org/</a></span><br />
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<br />Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-78831059667253202902018-09-24T17:44:00.002+01:002018-09-26T10:33:44.075+01:00Poem 17 Katrien is "Falling into Beauty" in South Korea and Beyond<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So here's the next poem from the new audio book </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> - Poem 17 Falling into Beauty. It's </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">about how we plan the future... or rather, don't. <a href="https://soundcloud.com/sarah_de_nordwall/17-falling-into-beauty" target="_blank">You can listen here</a>. So where's the glimmer of safety in the churn? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It turns out, that the person who will be commenting on Falling into Beauty, is Katrien, my Belgian friend who has suddenly had to move to South Korea with her family, because of her husband's job.</span></div>
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When we are catching up on Face Time, she tells me that some of the changes have surprised her - </span><br />
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"I can’t recognise anything in the supermarket!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It isn't just the language, (invented by one of their ancient kings) that has been a challenge, but even the packaging </span>is totally unfamiliar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I go round shaking things – is this rice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this milk? What IS it? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I had to go to six different shops to find the ingredients for one dish I could make for the boys."</span></span></div>
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</span>I hadn't thought about an entire supermarket of unrecognisable things! But how might this relate to having to fall into beauty?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Katrien: Well, what this poem was for me was a story of falling in love.</span></blockquote>
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Oh really?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Yes, it’s a spiritual journey …about how one has an inner knowledge, but then you have to follow it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your sensitivity will lead you, but you can’t grasp it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you take it in your fingers it escapes.</span></blockquote>
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</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And here in Korea I am having to fall in love with a new beauty too, but it’s hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find my place more easily in nature, hiking. The scenery in Seoul is just incredible. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But the culture is SO different and the Koreans are of course fiercely passionate about their culture, because they had so much of it robbed from them in the war with the Japanese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ah yes, you told me that in the 70s they used to be practically the poorest country in the world, but now they are one of the most economically successful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That's right, and they worked for that night and day and they still do. Here, 9 year olds will be doing maths till 10pm every night. They are very aware that this is a fight for survival. They want their culture to survive too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> They have a very rich intellectual history, but they </span>aren’t looking for interaction with other cultures and ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least that’s the impression I get. We are used to the idea of interaction with other cultures being fertile, but that's not the objective here. </span></blockquote>
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There is a city called Paju book city, in which 10,000 people work in the publishing industry. It’s been created entirely to preserve their culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s motto is ‘A city to recover lost humanity” .</span></blockquote>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It sounds inspiring … but also looks a bit overwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s on such a huge scale.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Yes that’s the thing – most Asian cities we hear about <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are international, like Hong Kong, but here it is absolutely Korean. Although <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the culture is based on Confusianism and there’s a shrine here where they have spiritual tablets for the ancestors to preserve their spirits in, I sense that it is actually work that is the religion.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> My son was at a debate in school about the existence of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He came home and said ‘Mum, I lost the debate’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of 20 children he was the only one who believed in God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But this isn’t through lack of thinking about things (because they read day and night), it’s more a passionate affirmation of a kind of materialism, whose whole dynamic springs from needing the knowledge and power to compete.</span></blockquote>
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It sounds a bit tiring. So why did the poem seem relevant to surviving this situation?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Well, the kind of beauty I find there <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> in the poem </span>- it’s all Holy Spirit. You’re falling into God.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Ah right, so not just into dolphins! I wondered about that! And then there's another line in the poem I wanted to ask you about. I wrote<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“a world made safe by God”. At first I wasn't sure whether to leave it in, but then I decided to go with my initial inspiration, because I try to trust my poetic imagination and see what it yeilds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Good! You, were right to leave it in, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>because for me, especially in my present situation, this means the world is saved by God, loved by God and when you are in God, you are ultimately free, whatever your circumstances.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Falling into beauty is finding God’s part for you, and not just the part your culture tells you that you have to play. Materialism is not a fulfilling life.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Without the dimension of depth, your humanity has nowhere to reside.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> I had a look at a website on Korean poetry in translation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked this poet - Yun Dong-ju. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-align: right;">He’s also famous for his resistance to Japanese cultural colonialism, it seems. Poetry is so often a tool of resistance. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And I am reminded that, somewhat encouragingly, wherever you let poets loose, you are going to find quite a few of them reaching for the stars both within and without.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #373737; padding: 0cm;">Prologue</span></strong><span style="color: #373737;"> by Yun Dong-ju</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #373737;">Until the day I die</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #373737;"> I long to have no speck of shame</span><span style="color: #373737;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #373737;">when I gaze up toward heaven,</span><span style="color: #373737;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #373737;">so I have tormented myself,</span><span style="color: #373737;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #373737;">even when the wind stirs the leaves.</span><span style="color: #373737;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #373737;">With a heart that sings the stars,</span><span style="color: #373737;"> </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #373737;">I will love all dying things.</span><span style="color: #373737;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #373737;">And I will walk the way</span><span style="color: #373737;"> that has been given to me.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #373737;">Tonight, again, the wind brushes the stars.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">죽는</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">날까지</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">하늘을</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">우러러</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">한</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">점</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">부끄럼이</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">없기를</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">,<br />
</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">잎새에</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">이는</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">바람에도</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">나는</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">괴로워했다</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">.<br />
</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">별을</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">노래하는</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">마음으로</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
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</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">그리고</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">나한테</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">주어진</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">길을</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">오늘</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">밤에도</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">별이</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">바람에</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">스치운다</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">“</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">하늘과</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">바람과</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">별과</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">시</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">”</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> (</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">정음사</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">, 1948)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><strong><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #373737; padding: 0cm;">Yun Dong-ju</span></strong><span style="color: #373737;"> (1917 – 1945) was born in Longjing, Jiandao, in present-day northeastern China. He was known for lyric poetry as well as resistance poetry against Japanese colonialism.</span></span><br />
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</span> </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">Maybe some of the friends you meet there in Seoul, will be the poets you meet in books, and I suspect you'll also find that some elf friends have indeed been sent down the elven way to meet you, now that you've dared to begin your journey. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">And who knows what you will create or collate, as you integrate all this seemingly alien beauty? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you've enjoyed these this, you might enjoy these too -</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall" target="_blank"><br />
</a>1) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall" target="_blank">The Audio book, out now on Audible for only £5.59</a> or free if you join Audible. The only reason it's so cheap is that they price according to length, which isn't too sensible for poetry. However it is the length of 3 albums - at 2 hours and 35 mins. But it does mean that the book and audio together are very affordable, which was the point of making the audio, so that you could listen and then read if you wanted to remember or study one poem in particular. You can also listen as you read;</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;">2) My <a href="https://www.stmaf.org/" target="_blank">Poetry and Prosecco night at the St Michael's Festival </a>on 4th October 2018 at 7.30pm for only £12.50 including the Prosecco! Invite friends and let's have a poetry party with plenty of discussions afterwards. You can book <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-prosecco-with-sarah-de-nordwall-on-national-poetry-day-tickets-48287873329" target="_blank">here</a> - Books will also be available to buy on the night. Places limited.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Artistic Director of the Festival writes on the Eventbrite page -</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"An evening of seemlessly blended sparkle, profundity and joy, with performance poet and inspirational story-teller Sarah de Nordwall, back at the 2018 Festival by popular demand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sarah held us spellbound last year with her wisdom and wit, poetry and sheer delight at the universe, and StMaf18 is thrilled she has agreed to come back to charge our glasses for a second time... " Justin Harmer, Festival Director</span></div>
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<a href="http://an%20evening%20of%20seemlessly%20blended%20sparkle%2C%20profundity%20and%20joy%2C%20with%20performance%20poet%20and%20inspirational%20story-teller%20sarah%20de%20nordwall%2C%20back%20at%20the%202018%20festival%20by%20popular%20demand.%20%20sarah%20held%20us%20spellbound%20last%20year%20with%20her%20wisdom%20and%20wit%2C%20poetry%20and%20sheer%20delight%20at%20the%20universe%2C%20and%20stmaf18%20is%20thrilled%20she%20has%20agreed%20to%20come%20back%20to%20charge%20our%20glasses%20for%20a%20second%20time.../" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-prosecco-with-sarah-de-nordwall-on-national-poetry-day-tickets-48287873329" target="_blank">You can book here! </a></span></div>
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Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-67475164087987225762018-09-11T09:53:00.003+01:002018-09-26T10:13:35.332+01:00Poems 15 and 16 Tyrrell Hector Anthony, mountains and monsters<div class="MsoNormal">
Tyrrell! (Pronounced Tie Rell)<br />
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Welcome to England, fresh from Canada!<o:p></o:p></div>
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When you messaged me from Canada, I think you'd just left your job on the railways in the Rocky mountains. It sounded like you were looking for more than just a change of scene. After all, the scenery must be pretty amazing from those trains in the Rockies. </div>
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Sure, you can look out and see elk, moose and bears…It’s really beautiful.</blockquote>
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So you’re not regretting being here in Victoria, London? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Well, to be honest, I thought it was time for a real pilgrimage. Like Bilbo Baggins, it was hard to leave, but I needed to do it. </blockquote>
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So it looks as though the poems that have come to you today are quite appropriate then? 'I will go out now' and 'I must leave you'<br />
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Let’s <a href="https://soundcloud.com/sarah_de_nordwall/poem-15-intro-and-i-will-go-out-now" target="_blank">have a listen…</a> to the first one. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So yes, these lines especially </blockquote>
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'<i>and the straw we would have spun to gold, </i><i>is straw still at the last, and breaks in my hand'</i> ..I really relate to that because there comes a time of recognising that you are truncated. Life might have been good, but it isn't making you a better person. I know I was repressing my desires for my dreams, just for the sake of just making a good social image, You can end up feeling like a zombie.. the living dead. </blockquote>
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Did you know that zombie walks are really popular now? And growing? A poet friend of mine <a href="https://www.eauk.org/culture/forum-for-change/culture-footprint/sarah-fordham-poet.cfm" target="_blank">Sarah Fordham </a> told me there’s a huge Zombie Walk gathering in Crouch End.. maybe it’s an image of a contemporary experience - lots of people staggering along in a group, but all alone. There was an really perceptive talk by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wI33KevMck&t=853s" target="_blank">Symbolic World on that very topic</a> – I think you’d be fascinated. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOgg9AxSNbX5-bfEGEIkTI02Qb8C7Ilzn4Tnkvj6rG8C4hopMhKcPVugP1S4fOlV3S2-RRdyhBTFs6k3sgHKI6OcfKQmKv7IZYEfrUDiKa7KJJxWTLyaFvzeZvfMQlBGcm1NDD0CeAMR17/s1600/zombies+I+must+leave+you.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOgg9AxSNbX5-bfEGEIkTI02Qb8C7Ilzn4Tnkvj6rG8C4hopMhKcPVugP1S4fOlV3S2-RRdyhBTFs6k3sgHKI6OcfKQmKv7IZYEfrUDiKa7KJJxWTLyaFvzeZvfMQlBGcm1NDD0CeAMR17/s320/zombies+I+must+leave+you.JPG" width="180" /></a>The weekend after I heard the talk on youtube, I was on the pier in Brighton. And there was a booth with a father with his little curly haired daughter (who was about 3 or 4) on his knee and they were both shooting zombies in the head with guns – with plenty of gore and sound effects.<br />
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I couldn’t help photographing the outside of it, because I could hardly believe it! Just another contemporary day at the seaside. How did we get here? I suppose it's an effort to make the break from the group. </div>
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I read this book called 'My Name is Asher Lev'<br />
He made that journey to express himself in art and he had to make the sacrifice of being rejected from his community, but a lot of people benefitted from it.<br />
That’s what you experience in the second poem.. The Freedom after the pain of departure.</blockquote>
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Let’s hear<a href="https://soundcloud.com/sarah_de_nordwall/poem-16-i-must-leave-you" target="_blank"> I must leave you </a>- <o:p></o:p></div>
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This summer I heard a talk about Disturbed Discipleship.. It’s like Mary’s Fiat. Her Yes to God's proposal. You have to be disturbed. Only when you surrender everything... Only then are you running beneath the sky.</blockquote>
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You've lost so much but you're cleaving in order to cleave to something better. What’s the name of that word, that means both itself and its opposite? </blockquote>
Auto-antonym (I had to look that up!)<br />
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Well 'cleave' is one of those!<br />
So there’s this nostaligia, the yearning for the true homeland. And geography awakens that. And you have to go out to find it, in order to return to a true home inside yourself. Like also in your other poem about the sky – La Villette. (Poem 11) Looking up at Pegasus, you become part of his realm and suddenly you get a taste of the real.<br />
I guess it’s sacramental.</blockquote>
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It sounds very Tolkien too… and CS Lewis. Let’s see that book you have there! Tolkien's sacramental vision, discerning the Holy in Middle Earth. I'd love to read that.<br />
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So have a magnificent pilgrimage to Oxford and also to Wales and then hopefully back to London, because I’m longing to hear this segment of the Frankenstien play you put on in New Brunswick - when you were at University.<br />
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Yes, I took the script from the <a href="http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/ntlin4-frankenstein" target="_blank">Nick Dear </a>adaptation..<br />
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And your production too became a legend! Everyone was talking about it back in Bruno Saskatchewan, when I was there this May teaching Bard School. </div>
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Thank you. It was a monster! I'd love to do a monologue based on it, when I'm back from Wales.<br />
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There and back again. Thanks Tyrrell and congratulations for making the leap. You're booked. We'll let people know when that monologue gets an airing. </div>
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<i>‘I walk towards the mountain<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Till I hear another cry<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>The waterfall calls distantly<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>And I run beneath the sky.'</i></span><br />
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If you've enjoyed these this, you might enjoy these too -<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall" target="_blank"><br />
</a> 1) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall" target="_blank">The Audio book, out now on Audible for only £5.59</a> or free if you join Audible. The only reason it's so cheap is that they price according to length, which isn't too sensible for poetry. However it is the length of 3 albums - at 2 hours and 35 mins. But it does mean that the book and audio together are very affordable, which was the point of making the audio, so that you could listen and then read if you wanted to remember or study one poem in particular. You can also listen as you read;<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZGd_WFH-SGAD1Nwauv_-aN3dXBPdCdCJltkm9yo9UQwqXE7itJjfrrn1mYOIQmPNS1zP03eE0JE7wMr3GVqeNVuhE1KxATpABw5t_Qk3_X5yjCH-OU5DpY4HkSEzBbebGDghyIpnE7oS/s1600/Cover+Art++Audio+Book.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZGd_WFH-SGAD1Nwauv_-aN3dXBPdCdCJltkm9yo9UQwqXE7itJjfrrn1mYOIQmPNS1zP03eE0JE7wMr3GVqeNVuhE1KxATpABw5t_Qk3_X5yjCH-OU5DpY4HkSEzBbebGDghyIpnE7oS/s320/Cover+Art++Audio+Book.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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2) My Poetry and Prosecco night at the<a href="http://an%20evening%20of%20seemlessly%20blended%20sparkle%2C%20profundity%20and%20joy%2C%20with%20performance%20poet%20and%20inspirational%20story-teller%20sarah%20de%20nordwall%2C%20back%20at%20the%202018%20festival%20by%20popular%20demand.%20%20sarah%20held%20us%20spellbound%20last%20year%20with%20her%20wisdom%20and%20wit%2C%20poetry%20and%20sheer%20delight%20at%20the%20universe%2C%20and%20stmaf18%20is%20thrilled%20she%20has%20agreed%20to%20come%20back%20to%20charge%20our%20glasses%20for%20a%20second%20time.../" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.stmaf.org/#/weite/" target="_blank">St Michael's Arts Festival in Stockwell </a>- Invite friends and let's have a poetry party with plenty of discussions afterwards. You can book <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-prosecco-with-sarah-de-nordwall-on-national-poetry-day-tickets-48287873329" target="_blank">here</a> - Books will also be available to buy on the night. Places limited.<br />
The Artistic Director of the Festival writes on the Eventbrite page -<br />
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<div style="color: #45494e; font-family: "Benton Sans", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: normal; padding: 0px;">
An evening of seemlessly blended sparkle, profundity and joy, with performance poet and inspirational story-teller Sarah de Nordwall, back at the 2018 Festival by popular demand.</div>
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Sarah held us spellbound last year with her wisdom and wit, poetry and sheer delight at the universe, and StMaf18 is thrilled she has agreed to come back to charge our glasses for a second time...</div>
<div style="color: #45494e; font-family: "Benton Sans", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: normal; padding: 0px;">
<a href="http://an%20evening%20of%20seemlessly%20blended%20sparkle%2C%20profundity%20and%20joy%2C%20with%20performance%20poet%20and%20inspirational%20story-teller%20sarah%20de%20nordwall%2C%20back%20at%20the%202018%20festival%20by%20popular%20demand.%20%20sarah%20held%20us%20spellbound%20last%20year%20with%20her%20wisdom%20and%20wit%2C%20poetry%20and%20sheer%20delight%20at%20the%20universe%2C%20and%20stmaf18%20is%20thrilled%20she%20has%20agreed%20to%20come%20back%20to%20charge%20our%20glasses%20for%20a%20second%20time.../" target="_blank"><br />
</a></div>
<div style="color: #45494e; font-family: "Benton Sans", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: normal; padding: 0px;">
<a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-prosecco-with-sarah-de-nordwall-on-national-poetry-day-tickets-48287873329" target="_blank">Learn more about the Festival and book here!</a></div>
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<br />Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-70735718623232126712018-09-06T16:53:00.002+01:002018-09-12T17:48:32.618+01:00Poems 13 and 14 of Pirates and Transcendence with Dan Cote Davis <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">It’s wonderful to have you here, as you wend your way to Oxford from <a href="http://arcatheos.com/the-front-lines" target="_blank">Archatheos</a>, (pronounced Ar KAY theos) from the realm of Deliverance to the grave of the Maker of Middle Earth himself, JRR Tolkien. Apparently you were the first Bard of the realm. That's got to be good summer camp work!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xioMCQyMwKeFEAFTid7hnYHP_-KwOiGp2DzAjMM1WskP2YdsWwxZH8yLBeFkFKVd0omycLM2qtvQd8oZVrfCoJqcMIqdhnTzk2f5aDqDMRPFHT2OBHmBej_Vdr46MMITXud9ysz9vHmI/s1600/Dan+Poem+on+the+islan+with+Tom+and+Our+Lady+of+the+Pirates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="848" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xioMCQyMwKeFEAFTid7hnYHP_-KwOiGp2DzAjMM1WskP2YdsWwxZH8yLBeFkFKVd0omycLM2qtvQd8oZVrfCoJqcMIqdhnTzk2f5aDqDMRPFHT2OBHmBej_Vdr46MMITXud9ysz9vHmI/s320/Dan+Poem+on+the+islan+with+Tom+and+Our+Lady+of+the+Pirates.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So in the midst of this mythopoetic pilgrimage, I’m delighted that you’ve agreed to comment on the next two poems that fall to you… Numbers 13 and 14..<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now, I have to say that this is just a little poem, number 13 and I almost didn’t put it in: <o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">‘With Tom on the Island of Bol, in the cove below the Monastery’<o:p></o:p><br />
I just wrote it because I <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>enjoyed being there in Croatia, but several people have really liked it and I’m wondering what you saw in it.<br />
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Well, you say it’s a little poem but it’s sometimes the little things that are the most important!<br />
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Let’s<a href="https://soundcloud.com/sarah_de_nordwall/13-with-tom-on-the-island-of-bol-in-the-cove-below-the-monastery" target="_blank"> hear it first.</a> on soundcloud.<br />
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‘There are layers of blue in the grey mist<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Sea coloured sky coloured<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>W</i>ave and deep down pebble coloured<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">All is one before me.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Pine trees, lightening lime and needle green soft<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Tender, spiked at tip<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Grace wind-bent trunks<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Offering bundled foliage with a <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Sheltering care<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">And underneath <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Their shade<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">We watch the Pirate ship with empty masts<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Balance slyly<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Along the sharp fine line of the horizon.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><blockquote class="tr_bq">One of the things that struck me was the great contrast between praise and those things that take us away from praise.</blockquote><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">How exactly?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><blockquote class="tr_bq">I see it in the contrast that you continually try and bring between those things that would slyly take us away from the sacramental mind, (the mind that sees things in their true context), such as tenderness or grace found in the sheltering world, but then there's the slyness of the pirate ship, which is in its own shade, trying to take us away from that horizon of meaning that is grounded in the transcendent and the eternal. </blockquote><o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well I love that!<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><blockquote class="tr_bq">So this contrast between the transcendent scheme of the oneness that leads us to praise and that which would take us away from true ecstasy – movement outside of itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
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</span>And it's grounded in the monastic identity, the monks, offering the little prayer that seems meaningless or insignificant, but which is in fact fruitful. Because it is true praise of the creator and in this sense I was touched by the natural imagery rightly understood ..in the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>context of praise. </blockquote><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So it did mean something that the monastery was there and that there was a cove?<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><blockquote class="tr_bq">Sure because a cove is the place of encounter with the sea.And the sea is a symbol of our praise – the incessant nature of the waves.</blockquote></div><div class="MsoNormal"><blockquote class="tr_bq">And the horizon is entering into God, so there is this kind of encounter with the mystery of the eternal.</blockquote><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">So now, what about Our Lady of the Pirates? <a href="https://soundcloud.com/sarah_de_nordwall/14-intro-and-our-lady-of-the-pirates" target="_blank">That is a real Church on the island of Vis. Have a listen.</a><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><blockquote class="tr_bq">This contains the previous one but with more depth and also has a human narrative bound within.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story of Our Lady of the Pirates.</blockquote><br />
"I saw the Oleander and the Tamarisk tree beside the shore.<br />
You took me there at night,<br />
Where the shutters of the old stone houses<br />
Creaked with age beneath theyellowing moon.<br />
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Our Lady of the Pirates - what a tale you told<br />
Of the old church<br />
At the far point of the bay<br />
As we came to the stone well..."<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">You see the tension between the Life of God and ours …we have pirates in the previous one but in this one they physically make an assault upon an image of Our Lady, but there is a deeper interpretation at play because this attack upon the Holy has been turned into something tremendous and beautiful, so God is writing a deeper narrative beyond the piracy of human history, right?</blockquote><o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well that's very beautifully expressed. Indeed, the spring bursts forth when the image is rescued from the sea and placed on the ground.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">‘and there the well was built, and now the church’<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><blockquote class="tr_bq">Pirates steal within the created order, but God is able to reintegrate this theft into a greater and more glorious song. And we have a great joy here in the image of the redemption like a thread that is too bright to see.</blockquote><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">The thread too bright for the eye – that is a a line quoted from George Mackay Brown in fact.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><blockquote class="tr_bq">And this is one of the key ideas of the divinely planned narrative which is historically manifested in the story of Our Lady of the Pirates, which is in itself an allegory of redemption. Every human life will participate in the theft from God’s creation. Everyone is a thief in some way.</blockquote><o:p></o:p><br />
Like Bilbo Baggins?<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><blockquote class="tr_bq">Everyone is in some way a pirate, but God sends us Our Lady of the Pirates to help bring us all home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Tolkien says, the shipwreck is continually happening, we just have to find companions for the shipwreck!</blockquote><o:p></o:p></div>And that is a comforting thought in an adventurous kind of a way. But in the poem, I'm not so sure that the pirates make it home - 'All that was drawn up from the wrecked boat, was this image.'. hopefully they do, in the end, perhaps as a result of the 'polyphonic voices of the women dressed black'.<br />
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I'm also intrigued by what is gained by trying to make the 'meaning of a poem' explicit and what is lost.. Perhaps it's the resonance in the heart that matters most. So that anyone from any tradition can be nourished and awoken to the sound of their own soul. But that's probably a conversation for another post.<br />
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So thank you so much Dan and all the best on your pilgrimage to the Eagle and Child with Tyrrell and to the tomb of JRR himself, on the very anniversary of his death. I know that you are committed to the cause of his canonisation and have written a prayer for that intention? Do put it in the comments later! I think some people would be keen to see it.<br />
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If you've enjoyed these this, you might enjoy these too -<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall" target="_blank"><br />
</a> 1) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall" target="_blank">The Audio book, out now on Audible for only £5.59</a> or free if you join Audible. The only reason it's so cheap is that they price according to length, which isn't too sensible for poetry. However it is the length of 3 albums - at 2 hours and 35 mins. But it does mean that the book and audio together are very affordable, which was the point of making the audio, so that you could listen and then read if you wanted to remember or study one poem in particular. You can also listen as you read;<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZGd_WFH-SGAD1Nwauv_-aN3dXBPdCdCJltkm9yo9UQwqXE7itJjfrrn1mYOIQmPNS1zP03eE0JE7wMr3GVqeNVuhE1KxATpABw5t_Qk3_X5yjCH-OU5DpY4HkSEzBbebGDghyIpnE7oS/s1600/Cover+Art++Audio+Book.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZGd_WFH-SGAD1Nwauv_-aN3dXBPdCdCJltkm9yo9UQwqXE7itJjfrrn1mYOIQmPNS1zP03eE0JE7wMr3GVqeNVuhE1KxATpABw5t_Qk3_X5yjCH-OU5DpY4HkSEzBbebGDghyIpnE7oS/s320/Cover+Art++Audio+Book.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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2) My Poetry and Prosecco night at the<a href="http://an%20evening%20of%20seemlessly%20blended%20sparkle%2C%20profundity%20and%20joy%2C%20with%20performance%20poet%20and%20inspirational%20story-teller%20sarah%20de%20nordwall%2C%20back%20at%20the%202018%20festival%20by%20popular%20demand.%20%20sarah%20held%20us%20spellbound%20last%20year%20with%20her%20wisdom%20and%20wit%2C%20poetry%20and%20sheer%20delight%20at%20the%20universe%2C%20and%20stmaf18%20is%20thrilled%20she%20has%20agreed%20to%20come%20back%20to%20charge%20our%20glasses%20for%20a%20second%20time.../" target="_blank"> St Michael's Festival on 4th October 2018 at 7.30pm for only £12.50 including the Prosecco! </a>Invite friends and let's have a poetry party with plenty of discussions afterwards. You can book <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-prosecco-with-sarah-de-nordwall-on-national-poetry-day-tickets-48287873329" target="_blank">here</a> - Books will also be available to buy on the night. Places limited.<br />
The Artistic Director of the Festival writes on the Eventbrite page -<br />
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<div style="color: #45494e; font-family: "Benton Sans", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: normal; padding: 0px;">An evening of seemlessly blended sparkle, profundity and joy, with performance poet and inspirational story-teller Sarah de Nordwall, back at the 2018 Festival by popular demand.</div><div style="color: #45494e; font-family: "Benton Sans", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: normal; padding: 0px;">Sarah held us spellbound last year with her wisdom and wit, poetry and sheer delight at the universe, and StMaf18 is thrilled she has agreed to come back to charge our glasses for a second time...</div><div style="color: #45494e; font-family: "Benton Sans", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: normal; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://an%20evening%20of%20seemlessly%20blended%20sparkle%2C%20profundity%20and%20joy%2C%20with%20performance%20poet%20and%20inspirational%20story-teller%20sarah%20de%20nordwall%2C%20back%20at%20the%202018%20festival%20by%20popular%20demand.%20%20sarah%20held%20us%20spellbound%20last%20year%20with%20her%20wisdom%20and%20wit%2C%20poetry%20and%20sheer%20delight%20at%20the%20universe%2C%20and%20stmaf18%20is%20thrilled%20she%20has%20agreed%20to%20come%20back%20to%20charge%20our%20glasses%20for%20a%20second%20time.../" target="_blank"><br />
</a></div><div style="color: #45494e; font-family: "Benton Sans", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: normal; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://an%20evening%20of%20seemlessly%20blended%20sparkle%2C%20profundity%20and%20joy%2C%20with%20performance%20poet%20and%20inspirational%20story-teller%20sarah%20de%20nordwall%2C%20back%20at%20the%202018%20festival%20by%20popular%20demand.%20%20sarah%20held%20us%20spellbound%20last%20year%20with%20her%20wisdom%20and%20wit%2C%20poetry%20and%20sheer%20delight%20at%20the%20universe%2C%20and%20stmaf18%20is%20thrilled%20she%20has%20agreed%20to%20come%20back%20to%20charge%20our%20glasses%20for%20a%20second%20time.../" target="_blank">Learn more about the Festival and book here!</a></div><br />
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Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-52798954495093014442018-09-04T20:43:00.002+01:002018-09-07T13:34:44.762+01:00Poem 12 The Edge of Our Unknowing takes us into deep water, with Denise, Arwen and TomIt always sounded like such a hopeful poem to me – the Edge of Our Unknowing, <br />
<br />
“<i>I like it that friendship is like getting into a boat</i><br />
<i>Pushed out from the shore,</i><br />
<i>There’ll always be more you want to know</i><br />
<i>To see, to feel, to sail</i><br />
<i>But there’s only the journey, never arriving</i><br />
<i>But the sea is wide and free."</i><br />
<br />
But then I was reading an article in’<a href="https://shalomtidings.org/god-as-poet/" target="_blank"> Shalom Tidings’ magazine </a>about poetry. In it Leighanna Schesser says “The best poetry, as Robert Frost so famously said, is the kind where the poet learns something by writing the poem – there must be surprise.”<br />
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This indeed was the case with this poem. Part of me was issuing a warning about something that I'd failed to see.<br />
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/sarah_de_nordwall/12-intro-and-the-edge-of-our-unknowing" target="_blank">Have a listen</a> and then see if you agree with my friend Tom Bentall’s interpretation below, He'd come round to help me sort some of the 81 boxes of books for the Bard Library! And I was reminded of the time when he'd spotted this word, hidden in plain sight -<br />
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"<i>I like it that friendship is like getting into a boat </i><br />
<i>And you wish it was made of glass.</i><br />
<i>Because then you would see the fish at night</i><br />
<i>In their own sweet world.</i><br />
<i>The secret thoughts of that other mind</i><br />
<i>In a universe oblivious to your own being</i><br />
<i>And yet so vast and real.”</i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A universe <i>oblivious </i>to your own being - that doesn’t sound too intimate does it? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(Me) Oh no! I wonder why I never saw it before.. </blockquote>
"<i>But sometimes the fish look up</i><br />
<i> And the wood is glass-like.</i><br />
<i>A sudden seeing from a light beyond</i><br />
<i>A glimpse in the line of sight</i><br />
<i>And the sight is a distant shore,</i><br />
<i>But it comes with a promise.</i>"<br />
<br />
Apart from making me realise that those fish were actually pretty sinister, I couldn't help noticing that it had all come true as he said. But then there was this promise.<br />
<br />
And it set me thinking again, about what that promise might be. An end to the oblivion? A beginning of reconciliation? A sign of the kindred nature of all creatures - no matter how distant they might be to each other? Or even that impossible sounding hope of Julian of Norwich’s assertion, that all things shall be well and all manner of things shall be well?<br />
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Because even in the poem, there is something greater than the friendship in the boat.<br />
<br />
"<i>Such delight that the unknown way is prepared before us </i><br />
<i>And this ever-expanding freedom is uniquely ours.</i><br />
<i>I like it that friendship is like getting into a boat</i><br />
<i>In a world of wonder"</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VGnqzAgF3zbFAqbbRcrBSH0TQfX4lRlzrtsDtQaZ_HulV7FoKkACC7SqKAv9sXnzXqR6QN3r6FQON6O2PBF9lpqUieQ0LQfljg8x_BWbwlnjikdyuci8wf7JA9O9Zd38XekquOaB4QIR/s1600/Denise+and+Arwen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VGnqzAgF3zbFAqbbRcrBSH0TQfX4lRlzrtsDtQaZ_HulV7FoKkACC7SqKAv9sXnzXqR6QN3r6FQON6O2PBF9lpqUieQ0LQfljg8x_BWbwlnjikdyuci8wf7JA9O9Zd38XekquOaB4QIR/s320/Denise+and+Arwen.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
When I read this same poem to Denise Calverly, seen here in our kitchen with her daughter Arwen, the other day, she thought the poem made her think how faith is like the edge of our unknowing. And how at some point, we need to get out of the boat.<br />
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She said <br />
‘I can’t help thinking that Peter in the Gospel, steps out of the boat and when he keeps his eyes off the waves he actually walks on the water. People remember that he sank. I remember that he walked. "<br />
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I love where the conversations about poetry go - as much as the the process of writing the poems themselves. To return to Leighanna in Shalom Tidings Magazine, she speaks about the poet conversing with themselves, their ideas and an imagined audience in a way that is rather Trinitarian. What I enjoy aswell, is when the audience is no longer imagined, but real, and adds their own surprising and insightful contribution to the journey.<br />
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So why not come, if you can, to the Celebration of National Poetry Day on Thursday 4th October?<br />
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The theme is Change... As part of St Michael's Arts festival, I'm performing poems and stories from the book and beyond and there's also Prosecco included! You can book tickets <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-prosecco-with-sarah-de-nordwall-on-national-poetry-day-tickets-48287873329" target="_blank">here</a> and also see what other delights have been prepared for you.<br />
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<a href="https://www.stmaf.org/#/weite/" target="_blank">St Michael's Arts Festival in Stockwell on National Poetry Day 7.30pm - 4th October 2018 </a><br />
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(The festival runs from 4th to 14th October but my performance is just on Thursday 4th )<br />
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Or if you are just wanting to lie back right now and listen.. whether you are at the edge of your unknowing or in the thick of it, you can enjoy the audio book of 50 poems for <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall" target="_blank">£5.59 right now. </a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtfnTMUtUPsuCO_Xa9beWtkpEcOtPiAI6uj62svoQTmZOuDomfYa6SYmLA5-rJxvXanLCkDGpw7dR6oNrgNiDGDlieUKOF4EqcqPMAN5Q3S8tEhu4B7zgN5PrUofIFjzXAdpWNUvj7Ppr/s1600/Cover+Art++Audio+Book.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtfnTMUtUPsuCO_Xa9beWtkpEcOtPiAI6uj62svoQTmZOuDomfYa6SYmLA5-rJxvXanLCkDGpw7dR6oNrgNiDGDlieUKOF4EqcqPMAN5Q3S8tEhu4B7zgN5PrUofIFjzXAdpWNUvj7Ppr/s320/Cover+Art++Audio+Book.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looking forward to seeing you at St Michaels or in the comments below!<br />
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I like it that friendship is like getting into a boat<br />
In a world of wonder.<br />
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And thanks so much again to Tom Bentall for not only helping me shift books, but also for reviewing the audio book in his beautiful tender style.<br />
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Apparently if you get 50 reviews, Amazon starts to promote you. So if you do feel like putting up a review, that would be a wonderful way of pushing the boat out, together!!!<br />
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<a class="a-link-normal" href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R99COLXZYC2PV/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07G215SF6" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0066c0;" title="5.0 out of 5 stars"><i class="a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating" data-hook="review-star-rating" style="background-image: url("https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/AUIClients/AmazonUIBaseCSS-sprite_1x-7233320d393c05a5508cf7d579641c4b327cbda4._V2_.png"); background-position: -5px -368px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 400px 900px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 18px; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; width: 80px;"><span class="a-icon-alt" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-size: inherit; height: 18px; left: auto; line-height: normal; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: auto; width: 80px;">5.0 out of 5 stars</span></i></a><span class="a-letter-space" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; width: 0.385em;"></span><a class="a-size-base a-link-normal review-title a-color-base a-text-bold" data-hook="review-title" href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R99COLXZYC2PV/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07G215SF6" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-weight: 700; line-height: 19px;">Buy it! Read it! Listen to it!! Treasure lies within!!!</a><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span class="a-size-base a-color-secondary review-date" data-hook="review-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(85 , 85 , 85); line-height: 19px;">15 August 2018</span></div>
<div class="a-row a-spacing-mini review-data review-format-strip" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember", arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 978.138px;">
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<span class="a-color-secondary" data-hook="format-strip-linkless" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(85 , 85 , 85);">Format: Audio Download</span><i aria-label="|" class="a-icon a-icon-text-separator" role="img" style="background-color: #dddddd; background-image: url("https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/AUIClients/AmazonUIBaseCSS-sprite_1x-7233320d393c05a5508cf7d579641c4b327cbda4._V2_.png"); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 400px 900px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 14px; line-height: 0; margin: -2px 0.67375em 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 1px;"></i><span class="a-size-mini a-color-state a-text-bold" data-hook="avp-badge-linkless" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(196 , 85 , 0); font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.465;">Verified Purchase</span></div>
<span class="a-size-mini a-color-state a-text-bold" data-hook="avp-badge-linkless" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(196 , 85 , 0); font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.465;"><br />
</span> A Beginner’s guide to opening the world with words.</div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Sarah's beautiful and transportive audiobook sings in the heart long after listening to it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I find it s</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">imultaneously challenges one to think and puts the heart back together in a magical and loving way. Her poetry is at once expressive and delicately tender, proving a valued ally for one’s journey along whatever path of life one chooses. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I think her wit, charm and erudite use of metaphor adds colour equally to an innocent tone-poem or a more philosophical dialectical study. I find Sarah’s character in her work speaks volumes about her approach to life :- add humour and loving presence; hey presto: joy!!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Her book is a joy to listen to and one I will certainly take along with me in the coming autumnal season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /> Her spiritual insight is precious and timeless, as seen in the hermit story or ‘a black sheep’. Her newer work is often more pensive and poignant but her wisdom-being always shines through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-52295028122339991352018-08-31T15:50:00.002+01:002018-08-31T16:56:12.309+01:00Poem 11 Shooting stars, the great abyss and Sheffield Mandolins with David Lochner<span style="font-size: large;">It's fascinating to see what insights people bring to your own poems. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi63SkXOjKMDhIx-uQ4Iv9wxW_Lo1Z2o1Yj9NBMLQQzHCHR4PZgTf5gprZuRIViBvAgsPoORA6yzc0ZYPrdYw9A2KfY7sqMfb9LFzh68HS3RPoOA9vrh1DMUUrN_Md3WKtu9isOpMzU1N6p/s1600/David++Lochner+-+poem+11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1356" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi63SkXOjKMDhIx-uQ4Iv9wxW_Lo1Z2o1Yj9NBMLQQzHCHR4PZgTf5gprZuRIViBvAgsPoORA6yzc0ZYPrdYw9A2KfY7sqMfb9LFzh68HS3RPoOA9vrh1DMUUrN_Md3WKtu9isOpMzU1N6p/s320/David++Lochner+-+poem+11.jpg" width="271" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> When I heard David's voice in the Arts Tent at Youth 2000 Festival, saying hello, I knew I was in for a treat. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">The last time we met, had been a few years ago, on a beach in Nice, looking at the sea with his sister Jenny. </span><span style="font-size: large;">But now we're chatting about the sky. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoFWj21qxc0vV1-WxUNzcILp0B47L0QiLJ7CuzE_DXKo10VBPiXCcG3Q3YKwyV6Asa4D9bPhfNgBEFmMUc_iKKYXeOu_BZBocYKpYwywbRMoIQHsaKvhgnF8ZSluNJExIRZjV0zUB6kK8/s1600/harvest+moon+-+the+garden+at+la+villette+poem+11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1068" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoFWj21qxc0vV1-WxUNzcILp0B47L0QiLJ7CuzE_DXKo10VBPiXCcG3Q3YKwyV6Asa4D9bPhfNgBEFmMUc_iKKYXeOu_BZBocYKpYwywbRMoIQHsaKvhgnF8ZSluNJExIRZjV0zUB6kK8/s320/harvest+moon+-+the+garden+at+la+villette+poem+11.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">The prayer tent at the Festival looks beautiful under the glorious harvest moon. And after a night of prayer, there's a host of people up for some joyful Irish dancing, lead by Emmett Glynn and a violinist. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Over the sound of the impromptu ceilidh, we're talking about poetry and David reminds me that he used to come to the <a href="https://poetrysociety.org.uk/poetry-cafe/">Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden</a> to see my Friday Night Poetry shows (with Sarah Larkin) when he was 15!!! 15??? Yes, he came with a school friend all the way from Ipswich. (Now I'm feeling like Goodbye Mr Chips)</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;">So, yes, he's more than happy to tell us what he thinks of the next poem in the book, which you can hear <a href="https://soundcloud.com/sarah_de_nordwall/11-intro-and-the-garden-at-la-villette">here</a>. (The Garden at La Villette - <i>on the night we sat back in deck chairs, as the night fell and all the shooting stars came out to play)</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">I love his first reaction - </span><br />
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</span> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">'When you say</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;"> "The garden like a cradle hangs</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">Suspended in deep space", </span></blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;"> I really relate to that, because, if you look up at the sky for any length of time, when you look down again, the ground is the sky. It's all changed!</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: large;">The ground feels different, because you've put yourself up there in the cosmos. So looking up, you do "risk a fall into the great abyss". </span></blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">I'd never thought about the ground becoming the sky. It's sounds a bit terrifying. </span><br />
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</span> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">Well yes, but it's exhilarating - the impression of the infinite majority of reality being 'out there' and us being this infinite minority. </span></blockquote><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">But doesn't that make you feel insignificant, like the character at the beginning of 'Rebel without a Cause' with ... what's his name, James Dean, who is found trembling under his cinema seat in the planetarium? No doubt with a dose of existential anguish to add to his teen angst.</span><br />
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</span> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">No, quite the opposite! Where's that bit about the galaxies merging... with Andromeda approaching our galaxy at a hundred miles a second - </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: large;">"Our Galaxy approaches hers at this tempestuous pace</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Till noble Pegasus, the winged horse, dives in victory</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Towards the sea-beast in a tide of stars.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">One day our galaxies will wholly merge</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
And quieten every sword.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
The drama of the heavens </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Tells the glory of the Lord."</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">That's the thing I feel - God's in charge of all that and the truly amazing thing is the fact that even being so small, we can comprehend it, at least in part. It tells us something about who we are, that we can do that. </span></blockquote><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Yes, it's true. I wonder what the evolutionary imperative of that would be? If you read the 'New Scientist', they assume that everything has to have an evolutionary imperative, as though comprehending the majesty of the unimaginable vastness merely helped you to survive. But surely there's more to it than that. At any rate I enjoyed combining all the scientific facts in the poem with the mystery and the myths.</span><br />
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</span> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">And by the end we really have managed to</span></blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">'Feel the earth</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-size: large;">Precipitous,</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-size: large;">U</span><span style="font-size: large;">p end us</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-size: large;">Into </span><span style="font-size: large;">Awe'</span></blockquote><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: large;">That's great. So do the children in your Year 5 and 6 classes get to hear some poetry?</span><br />
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</span> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">Well I always try to give them something meaty - a bit of TS Eliot - the Journey of the Magi. I think they like things that are a bit more challenging. </span></blockquote><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">So what are you excited about when you go back to Sheffield? </span><br />
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</span> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">There's a new thing starting for young people, called Mission Hub. There'll be a cinema and cafe, and chapel with 24 hour adoration.. it's going to be right next to the university and there'll be loads of opportunity for creativity.</span></blockquote><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">I know you go on Thursday nights for Guitar and Mandolin sessions already. But that's at the Cobden View. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh yes, and did you know that we are always invited, each and every week, by a text that is an original poem by Steve, the organiser. That is poetry in everyday life as encouragement and community building! Marvellous. </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"></blockquote><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And very hobbity. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">And that reminds me, that I've got a performance in October that I must start inviting people to. It's the <a href="https://www.stmaf.org/#/weite/" target="_blank">St Michael's Arts Festival and my show is actually on National Poetry Day - October 4th - Poetry and Prosecco </a>- Please come, it was wonderful fun last year and they've asked me back! There are loads of events over the 10 days and a festival ticket for every event costs only £50. You can get individual tickets too though for each event. There's comedy, an art exhibition, a Macbeth workshop, Lemon Wedge Film club for kids, opera, talks, food.. go explore! www.stmaf.org</span><br />
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</div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: large;">It would be great to see you there, but I think you'll be among the guitars and mandolins in Sheff! Cos it's a Thursday. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Never mind, we'll raise a glass of Prosecco to the North and the Cobden View! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Thanks so much David. Have a fantastic term!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Sarah's book and accompanying audio book are now available <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall">on Amazon</a>.</span><br />
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</span> Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-16333974863719377612018-08-28T22:06:00.000+01:002018-08-30T07:57:48.190+01:00Poem 10 - Maria and baby Jemima reflect on Lost Words and The Container of Abandoned Minds <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XpFTA3I_GocYtIf1he0EArDlnz6hZ6N6OQUMC5DJSpKU9WPv9vO8ko0wjlOp_Q2bSfSAtOqY1fhboHwOfKr5oDAx9Q2wiF0Rg7hmgpCU70mvO4oEIrcUoD-hyUP_wF3oPiMblF-nTrLK/s1600/Maria+and+Jemima+Container+poem+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XpFTA3I_GocYtIf1he0EArDlnz6hZ6N6OQUMC5DJSpKU9WPv9vO8ko0wjlOp_Q2bSfSAtOqY1fhboHwOfKr5oDAx9Q2wiF0Rg7hmgpCU70mvO4oEIrcUoD-hyUP_wF3oPiMblF-nTrLK/s400/Maria+and+Jemima+Container+poem+10.jpg" width="300" height="400" data-original-width="666" data-original-height="888" /></a></div>So here is Jemima, whose name reminds me of gingerbread and all things beautiful and Beatrix Potter. Her mum Maria assures me they ARE big fans of the enchanting Miss Potter and the family have just finished the whole 23 book series. Maria also homeschools Lani, Rupert and Hugo, whilst managing to run a health and wellness business on the side AND read poetry. <br />
<br />
When I find her in the Cafe tent at Youth 2000 Summer Festival in Walsingham, she tells me she’s been enjoying ‘The Making of Mankind’ – poem 25. But today it’s poem 10 and she’s all up for commenting on The Container of Abandoned Minds, whilst the kids play and Jemima snoozes. <br />
<br />
You can also hear the full poem here on Soundcloud -<a href="https://soundcloud.com/sarah_de_nordwall/poem-10-intro-and-the-container-of-abandoned-minds"> the whole track taken from the AudioBook</a> <br />
<br />
This is the one for the United Nations Rapporteur who came to a meeting at the House of Lords, to hear from various groups in Britain about whether freedom of conscience was alive and well in our land. My reponse was a poem inspired by a phrase by Paul Hoggett. You'll discover it in the poem.. <br />
<i><br />
‘There is a place<br />
Where standardised thought<br />
Will lead, if you care to go.<br />
Why so few see where the path leads on<br />
Is hard to say or know..<br />
<br />
The road takes little effort<br />
As it slopes and twists and winds.<br />
But when you arrive, you’ll know the place:<br />
The container of abandoned minds.</i><br />
<br />
Ooh spooky… it’s like a void, sucking people in!<br />
<br />
Indeed!<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Its walls are sheer consensus, <br />
Their surface entirely flat<br />
They almost seem to absorb the light<br />
They’re so utterly grey and matt.<br />
<br />
And all the sounds are deadened<br />
The many voices stilled<br />
<br />
For the container of abandoned minds<br />
Is shockingly, crushingly, filled..</i><br />
<br />
<blockquote>Ooh you know what this is reminding me of. I can really see how this Container of Abandoned Minds is a danger for children too; when they aren’t encouraged to debate, when they aren't taught how to use logic and reason, when they are left with only their emotions. <br />
<br />
Teenagers really need these tools too because they have what you might call a gift of questioning! They want to 'fight it out' and I want to embrace that by helping them to be able to dig into the deep questions with some really solid reasoning. And for this they need a wealth of language. </blockquote><br />
It's true, one of the dangers with political correctness, is that someone else has done the thinking for you. They've made the choice of what <i>can</i> be discussed and what can’t.<br />
<blockquote>One thing we are going to do as a family, is use a beautiful Home Education programme called Mother of Divine Grace. <a href="https://modg.org/">https://modg.org/</a> <br />
<br />
</blockquote><br />
Something lovely I saw the other day (and bought) was a <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-lost-words/robert-macfarlane/jackie-morris/9780241253588">book of paintings and poems for children called the Lost Words.</a> Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris have ‘told in gold’ the words from the natural world that were taken out of the Children’s Oxford Dictionary in 2013.<br />
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These words such as Acorn and Ivy, Goldfinch (and also Bishop!!) have been taken out, whilst phrases such as ‘cut and paste’ and ‘analogue’ have been put in. The Lost Words aims to summon back the vanishing words and the presence of the worlds that they evoke. <br />
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I was talking to a parent who was surprised to find their feisty and recalcitrant teen sitting peacefully, listening to my CD 'Lipstick is a Spiritual Experience'. But the fact is, that young people tend to love language and ideas that contain presence and promise, beauty and wit. The culture has too little of this for them to enjoy and we start to expect too little of them. <br />
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<i>“No healing there<br />
Through pain or joy<br />
They are offered this instead; <br />
That all the world become the same<br />
<br />
And the living obey the dead. <br />
<br />
There is a place<br />
Where standardised though Will lead, if you care to go.<br />
The container of abandoned minds. <br />
Don’t say you didn’t’ know."<br />
</i><br />
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I was blessed that my parents continually challenged me to think and formulate opinions that I could articulate. And my mum read poetry to my sister and me from an early age. It looks as thought Maria's children are enjoying the same doses of delight and beauty. Maria tells me that she is committed also to sharing her health and wellness products because they are a great way of helping the family to keep up the homeschooling, whilst sharing products that she knows to be pure and beneficial. No containers of abandoned minds or toxins in her house!!<br />
<br />
You can find her products <a href="http://www.arbonne.com/pws/mariajjones/tabs/home.aspx">here at Arbonne ...enjoy!</a><br />
<br />
You can also hear the full poem here on Soundcloud -<a href="https://soundcloud.com/sarah_de_nordwall/poem-10-intro-and-the-container-of-abandoned-minds"> the whole track taken from the AudioBook</a> <br />
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All 50 poems can be found here on Amazon, together with the book. You can enjoy reading and listening at the same time - Just like we used to do when we were listening to those 'Little Long Playing Records' from Disney. How we loved them! And we had to turn the page when Tinkerbell <a href="http://www.mousevinyl.com/content/walt-disneys-story-pinocchio-disneyland-records">rang her little bells like this... Check out the nostalgia if you were young in 1970 ... <br />
</a>Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-35487390692709663462018-08-25T16:20:00.002+01:002018-08-29T16:26:38.660+01:00Poem 8 and 9 - A 7 year old Chelsea fan Muses on the universe and the use of images I had the great pleasure of kicking a ball around in the park with a 7 year old friend of mine today;<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgylTuW7EaIbXu2D1bMNLzBNJMH4VsIFWLVXkJkTbDQ8_aGiOV224SuCv3sbxs0LRkBhlX63vJkvTM0-LDy4ASE2d0ndkQhHxGO9cgH4b61Nvt_A-XiFGF1tNImMF3gAOpXg4jrAaLDfBc/s1600/Football+for+day+8+and+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgylTuW7EaIbXu2D1bMNLzBNJMH4VsIFWLVXkJkTbDQ8_aGiOV224SuCv3sbxs0LRkBhlX63vJkvTM0-LDy4ASE2d0ndkQhHxGO9cgH4b61Nvt_A-XiFGF1tNImMF3gAOpXg4jrAaLDfBc/s320/Football+for+day+8+and+9.jpg" width="240" height="320" data-original-width="1053" data-original-height="1404" /></a></div>Here's the evidence, because we think he's a bit too young to be online, but he wants to show you his football. <br />
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Now, I know he's great at reciting poetry, but I'm intrigued to see what he thinks of the next two poems in '<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall+">50 Poems'</a>.<br />
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We begin with 'The Universe Was Not at Home'; not by any stretch an easy poem to understand, but as soon as he's heard it, he responds at once. <br />
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<blockquote><i>I love that!<br />
<br />
I like the expressions and the tempo and I think that if you do that for people who are feeling sad, it will make them happy.<br />
<br />
On the negative side.. I think you need to change the title. </i><br />
</blockquote>Oh, really? Any suggestions?<br />
<blockquote><i>Something a bit more mysterious.. like "Where is the Universe? Knock Knock Knock".</i><br />
</blockquote>Oh, interesting.<br />
<blockquote><i>And I think that you need some props. So, when you go camping tomorrow, you can take a picture of the sky when there is no light disturbing the universe. And then that can be your backdrop. <br />
<br />
And when the universe in the poem drops the pictures off, he can say - 'Here are the constellations - take good care of them'. </i><br />
</blockquote>I love that idea. <br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>Well perhaps the universe is God.</i></blockquote>In the poem, though, the universe goes visiting.<br />
<blockquote><i>Ah yes</i> </blockquote>So in the part where I look up and there's light on my face. Why is that?<br />
<blockquote><i>I think that is God's face looking right down at you. You're looking into God's </i>camera. <br />
</blockquote>Really? Well I didn't fully understand that at first, when I wrote it. But it does actually remind me of something from the psalms.<br />
<blockquote><i>I've heard of those.. you spell them P-S-A-L-M-S</i></blockquote><br />
Yes that's true. And one of them says 'In your Light we see light'<br />
<blockquote><i>That's like 'In your Love we see love".</i></blockquote><br />
Oh. Let me think about that. I think you're right. That's a very illuminating thought. <br />
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So how about this second poem, "Wondering what I'm talking about". I'm afraid it doesn't rhyme.<br />
<blockquote><i>Oh</i></blockquote>(he looks very disappointed)<br />
<br />
But there are images for you to interpret and there's a kind of music to the lines. You might call it a prose poem actually. <br />
<br />
When he's heard "Wondering what I'm talking about - or Why your own poems are worth listening to" he says<br />
<blockquote><i>Are you going to write this all down like a conversation; like looking into the past?</i></blockquote><br />
Yes, though I hadn't quite thought of it like that before. <br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>I see. Well, I think this poem shows that there is a secret garden in everybody's heart</i>.</blockquote><br />
</blockquote>And why do you think there is a bird in the poem, leading us to the rusted lock... why not a rhinoceros or a giraffe?</blockquote><br />
<blockquote><i>Well, because a bird is better than a rhinoceros for that kind of thing because it isn't harmful. And it flies.</i> </blockquote><br />
That is an excellent response. <br />
So, what do robins represent to you?<br />
<i><blockquote>Biscuits.</i></blockquote>Biscuits? <br />
(his mum comes in)<blockquote>I think he's hungry.</blockquote><br />
A child can always be relied upon to change the conversation. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Sarah+de+Nordwall+audio">You can find the audio book "50 Poems for my 50th <br />
- A Beginner's Guide to Opening the World with Words - here</a>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TKxwUM-Zpjx-Iki6QPDrABE9RluxRn3UBMLlTazcl_tPUu5mKcyIQLehJcrQByhOYlzYvR30MEly9UmLKFs-nDlT4Ko5oTb8bu1B-BgrRk45Gmr8VpOyUZHzwOuU1WTqfmgBpbp2GI0v/s1600/Cover+Art++Audio+Book.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TKxwUM-Zpjx-Iki6QPDrABE9RluxRn3UBMLlTazcl_tPUu5mKcyIQLehJcrQByhOYlzYvR30MEly9UmLKFs-nDlT4Ko5oTb8bu1B-BgrRk45Gmr8VpOyUZHzwOuU1WTqfmgBpbp2GI0v/s320/Cover+Art++Audio+Book.png" width="320" height="320" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div><br />
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Thank you to my delightful young Chelsea fan. May we have many more poetic conversations on which you shed your special light. <br />
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Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-85598724957016212562018-08-23T21:59:00.000+01:002018-08-31T11:11:56.835+01:00Poems 6 and 7 - An astrophysicist has the Last Word <br />
"Sitting on indented marble cuboid in front of entrance…"<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80aiobnhyxpUk2S6huX0uYqSxkdVu-NocwYaq9-dN1CSh0ur8AP8-oyONnPUTx9oX_iJaU50IpM6iRizki4a_7-WOXDF9o8L9i6j11F_MQFVZkWVS-YN41pV_Qk4xrBVyc2oTclHbTQ8k/s1600/Dr+Gareth+Rimelda+and+Felicity+days+6+and+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80aiobnhyxpUk2S6huX0uYqSxkdVu-NocwYaq9-dN1CSh0ur8AP8-oyONnPUTx9oX_iJaU50IpM6iRizki4a_7-WOXDF9o8L9i6j11F_MQFVZkWVS-YN41pV_Qk4xrBVyc2oTclHbTQ8k/s320/Dr+Gareth+Rimelda+and+Felicity+days+6+and+7.jpg" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="1358" data-original-height="1020" /></a><br />
<br />
It's definitely a text from Dr Gareth. And indeed, there he is sitting at the entrance to the British Library. I normally catch up with him in Wales, but he's passing through London on the way to a new assignment and I remember to ask him about the difference between a cosmologist and an astrophysicist.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>I only do individual galaxies. I can only handle 10 billion stars at a time… </blockquote><br />
Good to have cleared that up. But 10 billion - per galaxy? <br />
<br />
<blockquote>Well let's get this into perspective. I'm about to lift 1 billion, billion, billion atoms into the air..</blockquote><br />
He takes on a serious expression and lifts the water bottle.<br />
<br />
Dr Gareth I've just realised you are the ideal person to comment on Rimelda Urban Mystica, because there's a verse that goes<br />
<br />
'She wondered, as she held her broom<br />
What lay beyond life's temporal room. <br />
In a quantum physicist's particle spin,<br />
She'd ask 'Which universe am I in?'<br />
<br />
He smiles as he listens to the poem and when we get to the end he says<br />
<br />
<blockquote>I could just imagine her clutching her broomstick about to take off on a flight of fancy.</blockquote><br />
Yet she's intent on her mission to reach for the real.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Yes, it evoked those moments when I’m thinking about mathematical mysteries and I’m on the brink of seeing how it works… If I could just see the connection… I’d see what it was all about. You hope you're on the brink of a wonderful new insight, but there's this danger of it being a false pattern.<br />
<br />
I think the stand out line is "She spent the morning wondering when<br />
She'd find the reason for purposeless Zen'.<br />
<br />
Which reminds me. Did you hear the one about the Dalai Lama who goes into a pizza shop and asks the man at the counter - Can you make me one with everything?'</blockquote><br />
That's actually quite funny.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Well this is the line that reminded me of it</blockquote><br />
<blockquote>'She prayed that though Buddhists say all is one<br />
She could still worship God as second to none.'<br />
</blockquote><br />
<blockquote>You can't help thinking that she's not going to find what she's looking for quite yet.<br />
</blockquote><br />
So how about Felicity Fastrack? <br />
<br />
<blockquote>A girl on top with a mind to match her<br />
Fewer U turns than Margaret Thatcher.<br />
<br />
She had it all and delivered it too<br />
She was GQ IQ babe come true.<br />
<br />
Well she's so certain, she's leaving me way behind. She and Rimelda are poles apart.. Or rather quadrants apart</blockquote>.<br />
<br />
Quadrants?<br />
<br />
<blockquote>They are at a right angle from each other. You see, things that are poles apart are actually quite similar.</blockquote><br />
Really?<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Well, you know, the weather in the Arctic and Antarctica... or New Zealand and England... Similar. In fact I'd never thought of that before.<br />
</blockquote>but now you mention it, I think they are in fact a bit similar because they are both pursuing types of power that leave them on a road out of reality.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>I think that the fact that we are not God is the great message of Christianity. I do not have the responsibility of running the universe and yet I’m called to be a member of His body… I’m called to be as close to God as it is possible for a creature to be without becoming God. And that will do for me.<br />
</blockquote><br />
Dr Gareth became a catholic priest 10 years ago and has <a href="https://catholicpreacher.wordpress.com/2018/07/08/serving-in-the-court-of-the-lord/">a unique style of preaching</a>, you can also read <a href="http://www.drgareth.info/na_index.shtml">his thoughts on the New Age here</a>.. <br />
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Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-81081133897519414862018-08-22T00:10:00.000+01:002018-08-29T16:25:26.359+01:00Poems 4 and 5 - Sally loves Microwave Man and Microwave Man's woman <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yCoKhmSquOy3R1b0DbyMSRnS_y2GC58Y_ptyXNyAXek7chHlYcQ2bHBrej0aPhuypr_VGM3efl29-HqQiYlNh9e_8wiqyeCcfkii5DAd6Xyg7qlJYzslVUsrDpmEl6oy1QX-bHf1qL9g/s1600/Sally+Day+4+and+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yCoKhmSquOy3R1b0DbyMSRnS_y2GC58Y_ptyXNyAXek7chHlYcQ2bHBrej0aPhuypr_VGM3efl29-HqQiYlNh9e_8wiqyeCcfkii5DAd6Xyg7qlJYzslVUsrDpmEl6oy1QX-bHf1qL9g/s320/Sally+Day+4+and+5.jpg" width="240" height="320" data-original-width="703" data-original-height="937" /></a></div><blockquote>They say little creatures crawled out of the slime<br />
And became human beings in a matter of time<br />
So that that which once wallowed in primeval bogs<br />
Now thrives in society’s civilised cogs. <br />
<br />
Which cog you engage with, you choose if you can<br />
And one I've encountered<br />
Is Microwave Man.<br />
</blockquote><br />
<i>For me this story of Microwave man is one of your best. It’s so accessible. And I can't help picturing some of my colleagues at the Stock Exchange where I used to work.<br />
<br />
<br />
Poetry doesn’t have to rhyme but this does and it’s hilarious. <br />
<br />
I've never seen a Lara Croft game but I know just what you mean. <br />
</i><br />
<blockquote>As she springs divinely from chasm to pool<br />
Microwave Man can adventure and drool<br />
And the graphics are stunning and all in 3D<br />
So who needs a social life, or Web TV?<br />
<br />
Once Microwave Man asked if life had a goal<br />
Now he's happy with Lara Croft's Dive Forward Roll;<br />
<br />
So perfectly pleasing, so aesthetically whole<br />
And you just press the arrow key, shift and control.</blockquote><br />
<i>It does make me giggle. I just love the cleverness of the lyrics. <br />
<br />
And it also makes me reflect how people can think they are making progress when in fact they are secretly longing for a much simpler life.<br />
<br />
<br />
And I can't help thinking, as I know you so well, that the bit about well nuked food might have something to do with your own experience?<br />
</i><br />
<blockquote>And he pierces the film of his plastic tray meal<br />
And he microwaves full power<br />
But he must have got distracted<br />
Cos he leaves it in an hour.<br />
<br />
And as he watches his well nuked food <br />
In electric light revolve<br />
He wonders<br />
Cosmologically <br />
What does it mean<br />
Evolve?"</blockquote><br />
<br />
Sally has moved from the London Stock Exchange to being Vicar of St Margaret's in Edgware. She also has an MBA, plays Bass guitar and is married to Hammad Baily, who is now fast asleep, having just come back from Usbekistan where he's been playing guitar in a gig with Ariana Sayeed. It's a busy household. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNQ1uxXi_q_byqDUXXhFlARjxKgkStaiT_oPgHJiNNfWAnlbNIB6PEDLHgpqXHCw3tVBNQaJYSevxbHrnv5R1ruDCqF5xucLg4BWgsEq_ow91AZwDMsBW64cI5ZCVd19G4SB8V7m9C-JT/s1600/Hammad+and+Xena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNQ1uxXi_q_byqDUXXhFlARjxKgkStaiT_oPgHJiNNfWAnlbNIB6PEDLHgpqXHCw3tVBNQaJYSevxbHrnv5R1ruDCqF5xucLg4BWgsEq_ow91AZwDMsBW64cI5ZCVd19G4SB8V7m9C-JT/s320/Hammad+and+Xena.jpg" width="122" height="320" data-original-width="606" data-original-height="1584" /></a></div>So here's Hammad and Xena this evening.. and I forgot to tell you that it was Hammad that wrote all the music on the audio book and did lots of the editing in his studio here in Edgware. Thanks Hammad!<br />
<br />
You can <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2aynos">hear him here </a>and enjoy exploring his wonderful music that is very much celebrated in Pakistan and around the world (espcecially in Edgware!)<br />
<br />
I love <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kynojue05dA">this one</a><br />
<br />
<br />
You can hear Microwave Man and Microwave Man's woman<a href="https://sarahdenordwall.bandcamp.com/album/lipstick-is-a-spiritual-experience"> on Bandcamp</a> as part of Lipstick is a Spiritual Experience, or buy the whole <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/50-Poems-My-50th-Beginners/product-reviews/B07G215SF6/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews">50 poems on the Audio book from only £5.59 here. <br />
</a><br />
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Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-83997902218188288752018-08-20T10:21:00.001+01:002018-08-29T16:25:01.109+01:00Poem 3 Time Will Tell - with Joe and RoisinSo after a weekend off enjoying the Evangelium conference in the very school where Tolkien wrote some of the Lord of the Rings! We entered the black room to pay hommage. Apparently his son taught there for a while and so Tolkien and his wife came to visit their son..<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcOupToi_KugY6x_NE4d14gFFTvRMmN9ShcXVdVn28IpxBOiDTRZXHg13Mz74gPB6jsE1uskJB6VkpO97-BK8rUQPisJ0FsL8x_WC0qFuZ00_8Y0rxtLB3fv9qKaN6Af7vUHZiuQTzJ8W/s1600/Joe+and+Roisin+Day+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcOupToi_KugY6x_NE4d14gFFTvRMmN9ShcXVdVn28IpxBOiDTRZXHg13Mz74gPB6jsE1uskJB6VkpO97-BK8rUQPisJ0FsL8x_WC0qFuZ00_8Y0rxtLB3fv9qKaN6Af7vUHZiuQTzJ8W/s320/Joe+and+Roisin+Day+3.jpg" width="289" height="320" data-original-width="1154" data-original-height="1280" /></a></div><br />
But now to Joe and Roisin who were in my Bard school poetry workshop and I couldn't help asking them for their comments bcause they always seems to be beaming or laughing! This is what Joe had said about Lipstick is a Spiritual experience (I wanted to find out why men always seemed to like this one)<br />
<br />
"It’s satire but there’s not a bitterness to it because we enjoy the thing itself… it’s just hilarious – Rouge Extreme… (<i>is that Real?</i> Yes) but we realise this is what capitalism tries to sell us but it’s still refreshing because I’m somehow enjoying the lipstick along with you. It’s ridiculous but funny too.<br />
<br />
Now don’t think I’m a cheap laugh, but honestly there’s something about that.. "<br />
<br />
So how about the poem 'Time Will Tell?', <br />
<br />
Roisin is doing a Master of Fine Arts in comtemporary art curating and Joe is teaching English at the The Cedars School. <br />
<br />
Roisin <br />
<blockquote><i> I feel a great sense of space.. and it’s almost like you lay out the picnic blancket and you invite people to the feast, <br />
<br />
Your'e allowing the people into that space of time and living it. <br />
Each time has its everything in it. </i><br />
<br />
</blockquote><br />
Joe - <blockquote><i>I had the image of the sea… because the tide keeps time… on the shore in and out… and so the sea is silence but it listens to us… in a pagan kind of way but pointing us to God. It made me think of Wordsworth talking about the sea "the mighty being is awake,<br />
And doth with his eternal motion make a sound like thunder, everlastingly'<br />
<br />
So that‘s the romanitic poet on the verge of divinising nature but <br />
</blockquote>(now they’re talking together and I’m not sure who is saying what)<br />
<br />
<blockquote>You get the sense that there’s something beyond all this joy and suffering. Something beyond the events around you,<br />
<br />
Time won’t show you.. it’s silent.. at first.. You don’t see it, but somthing in you is responding to what’s there.<br />
<br />
It’s holding the birds who sing.<br />
<br />
There’s a hidden love."</blockquote><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIF_hGcm_RjvJEzub24_oM3_nPqvmjIC-jH-_mc1VW7rQ-RE4lARqATb6jLIxzm-B1yyt1zzu_hyEsDifZe2wzTDan8Z4TqPeqbMYRJU3EWhv6teb_H97kz60vK2WbUVrYRwO6K36-lkp/s1600/The+Black+room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIF_hGcm_RjvJEzub24_oM3_nPqvmjIC-jH-_mc1VW7rQ-RE4lARqATb6jLIxzm-B1yyt1zzu_hyEsDifZe2wzTDan8Z4TqPeqbMYRJU3EWhv6teb_H97kz60vK2WbUVrYRwO6K36-lkp/s320/The+Black+room.jpg" width="240" height="320" data-original-width="1200" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div><br />
Picture - The Black Room at The Oratory School, Reading where Tolkien wrote part of the Lord of the Rings<br />
<br />
<br />
You can find the audio book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall+audio">here</a> <br />
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</i>Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-1351845417905967232018-08-18T01:46:00.000+01:002018-08-29T16:23:54.008+01:00Poem 2 - Lipstick is a Spiritual Experience and Joanna Bogle<br />
<br />
It's almost midnight and I'm tapping on the glass - "How do I get out?" And there in the dark outside is a familiar face. It's Joanna Bogle! '"There's no key" she says.<br />
<br />
Great. <br />
<br />
<br />
Though the prospect of sleeping in a marble floored hall, surrounded by rather impressive Boards of School Captains since 1897 isn't what I'd planned, it does rather remind me of Dead Poets Society. Seize the Day!<br />
<br />
But Joanna seems to know the building well and signals to me to run through to the other side. And so, a few deserted corridors later, I'm relieved to see her on the other side of a door that actually opens. I step out into the night and an opportunity to find out what she thinks of Poem 2. <br />
<br />
<br />
Fortunately she thinks this is fun and amounts to an opportunity for a post midnight cup of tea with the cake she'd saved from dinner. So now we are in a common room of the Oratory School, Reading, and she's stirring her tea with a biro and having a look at Lipstick is a Spiritual Experience.<br />
<br />
So she’s pondering<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqfqcD7XlkTzhnJlAGbCaHbvl5FyK9S61efxekI0UfFM8vTxPuH-S0vt9OxRh4X7HsLwEVARPCrkz9xp5BKZJtk7V6xKCqEIISNsyapXcAYa64i3rMRy7n2NHYDRyN4hnIYA_ZDk5CidJ/s1600/Joanna+Bogle.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqfqcD7XlkTzhnJlAGbCaHbvl5FyK9S61efxekI0UfFM8vTxPuH-S0vt9OxRh4X7HsLwEVARPCrkz9xp5BKZJtk7V6xKCqEIISNsyapXcAYa64i3rMRy7n2NHYDRyN4hnIYA_ZDk5CidJ/s320/Joanna+Bogle.png" width="240" height="320" data-original-width="1200" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div><br />
<i>It’s very visual - I saw all the lipsticks.. I don’t use the stuff myself, but I think there’s something in there that’s rather fun and Catholic, because we really do believe that you should become what you are. And lipstick and also lovely clothes have been seen by the church as a Good Thing, because for example the fashion industry was based in once-catholic Paris. Millinery began in Milan. That's why it was called Millinery.</i> <br />
<br />
Well I never knew that. But I add that when I was writing it… I'd rather thought it was a satire on commodity fetishim, <br />
<br />
<i>But I think it’s more than that. It's an affirmation of enjoyment.<br />
<br />
Though I don't love lipstick, I do love hairstyles. And today I rather lament that you're not even allowed to describe someone as beautiful. We’ve lost the pleasure of a charming compliment. There isn’t enough innocent absurdity around.</i> <br />
<br />
Well it seems that the commentary on exploitation is triumphed over by delight. <br />
<br />
<i>Exactly. Which is why the only thing I disagree with in the poem is throwing the old ones away!</i><br />
<br />
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<br />
Joanna Bogle blogs at http://joannabogle.blogspot.com/<br />
<br />
You can hear the poem <a href="https://sarahdenordwall.bandcamp.com/track/lipstick-is-a-spiritual-experience">here on Bandcamp </a>or dive straight into the Audio book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/50-Poems-My-50th-Beginners/dp/B07G215SF6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534551838&sr=8-1&keywords=sarah+de+nordwall+audio">which is here</a>! <br />
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Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-52936912999096715082018-08-16T22:31:00.000+01:002018-09-14T14:28:39.561+01:00Sarah's Introduction and Poem 1 - Fifty Things to Say<br />
So this is my plan - It's 50 days to National Poetry Day and the theme this year is 'Change'. <br />
<br />
I'm fascinated by the question - what do poems change? <br />
<br />
My poems changed me as I wrote them and sometimes I hear that they've alchemised something in someone else. <br />
<br />
So, in order to celebrate launching my audio book of '<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall+audio">50 Poems for my 50th - a beginner's guide to opening the world with words'</a>, I thought I might spend the next 50 days reading one poem a day (or a couple of poems every couple of days) to someone I meet and just seeing what they had to say! <br />
<br />
Today was Day One and I found myself in the gorgeously eccentric <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d8471854-Reviews-Haminados-London_England.html">Haminados Cafe in Notting Hill</a> (Filled with pictures of Rabbis and Beatles Memorabilia - not to forget the delightful host Joseph, who is always happy to tell you that 'It's just come out of the oven!') meeting up with Theodora Songhai, a wonderful actress, writer and puppeteer, who is preparing to devise a puppetry piece in the Temperate House of Kew Gardens. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5zlH6DSzywBNMGXjrseS0DvHu6Jtp0OZlBnD1GmckFJXDM3eTS5sH5dMCXAzi1YxIp9MybSnPjup53v6wgLVVccRjc15tWEwX4ilZyMoaj9mVgLqid90w9IoeKPqlP6exBzd0k3AkDoQ/s1600/Theodora+Day+One.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5zlH6DSzywBNMGXjrseS0DvHu6Jtp0OZlBnD1GmckFJXDM3eTS5sH5dMCXAzi1YxIp9MybSnPjup53v6wgLVVccRjc15tWEwX4ilZyMoaj9mVgLqid90w9IoeKPqlP6exBzd0k3AkDoQ/s320/Theodora+Day+One.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
She claims that she doesn't really get on with poetry, but was all up for hearing the introduction to <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sarah+de+nordwall+audio">50 poems and also the poem for Day 1.<br />
</a><br />
<br />
You might like to<a href="https://soundcloud.com/sarah_de_nordwall/sarahs-introduction-to-poetic-enchantment" target="_blank"> have a listen first, here on Soundcloud</a><br />
<br />
Theodora;<br />
<br />
<i>I like this bit - <br />
Page 1 "So there it is in black and white, Poetry exists for the purposes of festivity, affirmation and the revelation of paradise. And all of this springs from contemplation"<br />
<br />
I love that because I'd never thought about the fact that inspiration and all the things that are good and that art invokes in us, can come from a place not just of silence but of contemplation - sourced in a place from beyond ourselves. That's what I love about that.<br />
<br />
It's otherworldly.<br />
<br />
And the other part that struck me was when you talk about enchantment and how poetry can place you inside a song. For some reason that reminded me of The Never Ending Story... particularly I remember the scary wolf who terrified me as child. In fact I'm still scared now - black hair and green eyes - and when it's in the cave and opens its eyes the only thing you can see are its eyes. At any rate what I remember is how he said "I am the servant of the Nothing".<br />
The Nothing is about the eradication of imagination and innocence.<br />
<br />
...the destruction of the belief that good things can happen. But you're saying that the enchantment that poetry can create is actually a willingness to be open to imagination and beauty and delight. Enchantment is the antithesis of the nothing... it's a tool we have to fight the Nothing. And we do have to fight. You've reminded me that it really does require effort to eradicate the encroachment of the Nothing. <br />
<br />
And that's what a poem can do.<br />
</i><br />
Thank you Theodora! <br />
<br />
So now the first poem in the collection on day one is 'I put an orchid in my room'<br />
<br />
When you read it you just said - Wow, I want an orchid in my room. <br />
<br />
But why?<br />
<i><br />
<i>Because I want to experience loveliness as power, power to bless and chase away disorder and chaos. I love that. Something just being itself in its fullness; that is the power. That surety of being happy in itself dispels the chaos. It's encouraging me that when I enter the place of being free to be myself, then I will also have the power to dispel all that tastes of cynicism... of the nothing. Yes!!! </i><br />
</i><br />
Theodora Songhai blogs at<a href="https://villageoffspring.com/"> Village Offspring</a>. <br />
<br />
Thank you Theodora for joining the first day of the Pilgrimmage to National Poetry Day with 50 Poems for my 50th - A Beginner's Guide to Opening the World with Words. It was a joy! Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-19628620305900023142016-07-05T12:16:00.000+01:002016-07-05T14:49:03.353+01:00Women who Swim with the HuskiesHow I found blogging material in Hyde Park this morning.<br />
<br />
My friend John Williams has inspired me to start blogging again, as a way to move towards writing another book, so at 6.45am I set out to re-inspire myself with my i phone 4 and my swim suit.<br />
<br />
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I’d always thought that wild water swimming was for misguided people who enjoy bracing experiences, such as cold showers, for the beneficial effects to the psyche and the circulation of the blood. Not me. By 7.30am I had reached the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park and was looking at the grey sky and thinking, “Surely, surely not”. <br />
<br />
By the time I’d put two feet into the clear but brown, yes, brown water, I was onto “Definitely home time”. <br />
By the time I’d dived forward, (shamed by the girl in the polka dot swimsuit who was being Englishly Nonchalant about the freezing-ness of the whole affair), I was counting out the strokes with 1, 2 never again 3, 4 really no 5, 6 what am I thinking of 8, 9 this is ridiculous and it wasn’t until 29, 30 that something caught my eye.<br />
<br />
Husky! Look at that! <br />
<br />
Grey, wild and wolf-like, there he was at the edge of the lake on his morning walk and I wasn’t cold at all.<br />
<br />
I was in.<br />
<br />
I was Woman who Swims with the Huskies and suddenly I realise - it's now warmer <i>in</i> the water than out of it!<br />
<br />
No more counting. Just wild things. <br />
<br />
A swan glides by on the other side of the buoys and wonder of wonders, a moorhen with the fierce white streak and alarmingly pointed beak (from 25cms away) is guarding the nest she’s built around a neon orange buoy. <br />
<br />
Nature triumphs over plastic.<br />
<br />
I swim past and see how sharp that beak is. <br />
<br />
Perfect. I’m never coming out now. <br />
<br />
The sky is still grey, but I’m one with the wild. What’s not to love? <br />
<br />
I’ve only done this 3 times before but always on a hot day. I’m glad my housemate Alice decided to join me on the 2nd day and to sign up for the legendary Serpentine Swimming Club with me, because, wonderful as this now feels, it’s not something I think I'd persevere with alone.<br />
<br />
When I wake at 6.15am, somewhat earlier that my usual time, it’s only the thought of not disappointing my housemate that gets me up and out.<br />
<br />
Writing can be the same. When you embark on a project that’s really new and a little bit scary, the first strokes of the keys or pen can make you feel exposed and ridiculous. But 30 strokes in and you're on your way and wonderful unexpected animals come down to the water’s edge. <br />
<br />
And then there’s the glory of the sky and the things you see on your way back to the normal world, which you hadn’t ever noticed before. <br />
<br />
On the way back this morning, for instance, we looked at the Statue of Physical Energy set against the clouded sky from a new angle and I thought I’d take a shot of it.<br />
<br />
What a statue it is! Without a trace of contemporary ironies – just the joy of scanning the far horizon – riding bare back.<br />
<br />
Sometimes the call of the visceral is what you need for an intellectual endeavor.<br />
<br />
And epic is essential for the energy of activation. <br />
<br />
<br />
The thrill of the chill<br />
<br />
As the steel sky yields to platinum.<br />
<br />
There <i>is</i> a horizon and it’s yours to pursue. <br />
<br />
The light dawns! <br />
<br />
<br />
It's true.<br />
<br />
<br />
The world <br />
<br />
is shining!<br />
<br />
<br />
And that, as it turns out, just happens to be the working title of my new book. Thanks John, you always were an inspiration.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16hI2cS8YGWStFlXC0Y6HuHm58AuBd69chjrE_xesm-cVzUuvf6TS6Uxi910jEHLJ5U3uRYvRr9ADtO_v1t7mzdbxUklQLsx0IAJI268HHb0-gDk0GhyYqoo_H-8NmMlgZJEnIHf5593t/s1600/Look+back+at+the+light+2016+july+Serpentine.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16hI2cS8YGWStFlXC0Y6HuHm58AuBd69chjrE_xesm-cVzUuvf6TS6Uxi910jEHLJ5U3uRYvRr9ADtO_v1t7mzdbxUklQLsx0IAJI268HHb0-gDk0GhyYqoo_H-8NmMlgZJEnIHf5593t/s400/Look+back+at+the+light+2016+july+Serpentine.JPG" width="299" height="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-33683520979474047562015-11-23T12:31:00.000+00:002015-11-23T13:01:39.425+00:00Beyond Your Wireless Dreams! on Saturday 28th November 2015<i><br />
'Once upon a time and light-years away, there were 2 aliens in a travel shop..'</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigUAAdQf3q6-PXaO2zxcFxujpO3QAB8YfKOPstSRMxBIYa2qmaCHWUVBblAkY8Yqn8DfJulmdRkBylc2L_easl6LKAd63Z0e6wjbCjfRRUGlO5cBzjgfwHPo0HcoH5EeJGfqFx4u90Ixya/s1600/1pm+Bess+and+Sarah-9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigUAAdQf3q6-PXaO2zxcFxujpO3QAB8YfKOPstSRMxBIYa2qmaCHWUVBblAkY8Yqn8DfJulmdRkBylc2L_easl6LKAd63Z0e6wjbCjfRRUGlO5cBzjgfwHPo0HcoH5EeJGfqFx4u90Ixya/s320/1pm+Bess+and+Sarah-9.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Stand up poetry, song and sci-fi with<br />
Sarah de Nordwall<br />
Bard and storyteller<br />
<br />
Via Transylvania and Saskatchewan,<br />
the BBC and the <br />
House of Lords..<br />
<br />
‘As relaxing as a head massage and as stimulating as a trip to a new planet!’ <br />
JP Theatre Director<br />
<br />
Come and enjoy the poetry and stories and meet great people on Saturday 28th November <br />
Mulled Wine at 7pm with the show starting at 7.30pm <br />
<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-your-wireless-dreams-tickets-19555666525?ref=enivtefor001&invite=ODc2ODc2Ny9lZHdpbkBlZHdpbmZhd2NldHQuY29tLzA%3D&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=inviteformalv2&utm_term=eventpage"><br />
You can buy your tickets here on Eventbrite</a>. <br />
<br />
£15 only for a table seat.<br />
£10 concessions available for students <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
for one night only at<br />
<a href="http://www.jesuit.org.uk/mount-street-jesuit-centre"> Mount Street Jesuit Centre</a><br />
<br />
‘Thank you for bringing us so much joy’ audience member<br />
<br />
‘Chock full of treasures to feast my mind on!’ <br />
Journalist at the Times <br />
<br />
‘I never cease to be affected by her mysterious ability <br />
to release my creativity by sharing hers.’ <br />
Coach to Women in the Music Industry<br />
<br />
To Book go to Eventbrite.com £15 for a table seat, booked in advance, £10 for concessions. <br />
search under <br />
Beyond Your Wireless Dreams! or <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-your-wireless-dreams-tickets-19555666525?ref=enivtefor001&invite=ODc2ODc2Ny9lZHdpbkBlZHdpbmZhd2NldHQuY29tLzA%3D&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=inviteformalv2&utm_term=eventpage">just click here!</a><br />
for more information call Sarah 07849 641 899<br />
<br />
Mount Street Jesuit Centre<br />
114 Mount St, <br />
London W1K 3AY <br />
Nearest tube Green Park<br />
<br />
Looking forward to seeing you there and taking the journey home to the beginning and the end of time!<br />
<br />
xx<br />
<br />
Sarah<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.sarahdenordwall.com">www.sarahdenordwall.com</a><br />
<br />
Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-74024150913622752902015-11-13T21:31:00.004+00:002015-12-22T12:22:28.629+00:0050 Poems for my 50th - A Beginner's Guide to Opening the World With Words!<br />
<br />
It was a very exciting day when the book first arrived in June.. and then the 2nd edition in November!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fast-print.net/bookshop/1792/50-poems-for-my-50th"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggz0oZDP6mJQNodKD_Nwhfo-6wICOrnMasgvb16qoJGS0fgCl6_b_k-IfoSjymXEgVoghLVA-ny51ACKQDsNgY-Iyd2UBudWxkIfarkOWYC68GJml128szG4EESRiHCIdAAweP1yotE4lp/s1600/the+box+of+books+revealed%2521+final+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggz0oZDP6mJQNodKD_Nwhfo-6wICOrnMasgvb16qoJGS0fgCl6_b_k-IfoSjymXEgVoghLVA-ny51ACKQDsNgY-Iyd2UBudWxkIfarkOWYC68GJml128szG4EESRiHCIdAAweP1yotE4lp/s400/the+box+of+books+revealed%2521+final+shot.jpg" /></a></div></a><br />
<br />
It's great that people have been really enjoying it - from those who would not normally choose to read poetry to world class poets with amazing reputations such as Mimi Khalvati.<br />
<br />
'It’s brilliant! I read the whole thing from cover to cover in a sitting… I just loved the way you put them together.. with the chatty bits in between. I could tell I was smiling as I read it! I loved it.' <br />
<i>Bernadette Barratt, Parish Secretary </i><br />
<br />
One reader bought 20 to give as presents to all her friends for their birthdays in the coming year, saying that she couldn't think of anyone she knew that wouldn't be amused and inspired, so why not, since birthday cards cost about a third of a book!?<br />
<br />
So, if you do want to buy one (or a few) you can find them on amazon, but if you prefer to support my publishers who are lovely people and have a great corporate culture (unlike some online giants one could mention) and who also pay the authors TWICE what amazon pays, <a href="http://www.fast-print.net/bookshop/1792/50-poems-for-my-50th">then you can buy it here </a><br />
<br />
Thanks so much to my delightful publishers, who helped me set up the Bardschool Press, (an imprint of Fast publishing). Without Pauline Tebbut and the wonderful Mr Potter (no less!) what would I have done? Check them out <a href="http://www.fast-print.net/contact">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Here are a few of the reviews and responses received so far. Thank you so much! I'm very glad it's bringing you joy.<br />
<br />
'Sarah’s poetry is very original, full of surprises and beautiful images. <br />
<br />
Reading it is like being perched on ‘Jacob’s ladder, pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross’ to quote from Francis Thompson. <br />
Her poetry can be mysterious, sad, funny or joyful – sometimes all in one poem. The book is a moving journey into inner space.' <i><br />
Daphne Kilner – author</i><br />
<br />
<br />
'Sarah's poetry opens up opportunities within me. Every time I read something that she has written, I feel inspired to grab a pen and a piece of paper and just see what happens. <br />
<br />
I especially love the way her poetry invites us into a dialogue. It's impossible for me to simply read her poems in a passive manner... every single one of her poems is an invitation to join in the adventure. <br />
<i><a href="http://www.helenmunt.com/">Helen Munt - singer song-writer</a> </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
'This book is a glittering treasure chest.<br />
I can't imagine it would be possible to read it through and not have your heart profoundly touched by something, or have your mind opened to something new.'<br />
<i><br />
<a href="http://www.hereismydesign.com/">Claire Barrie, graphic designer </a></i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“50 poems for My 50th by Sarah de Nordwall (Bardschool Press £9.99) <br />
<br />
Spirited, provocative, tender and personal, these poems by the founder of the Bard School are a delight, reminding those with jaded appetites that the world is full of wonder and the task of poetry is to open our eyes to the mysterious beauty surrounding us. <br />
<br />
Composed after visiting places as far apart as Nova Scotia, a Croatian island an ultra-orthodox Jerusalem, these zany yet insightful lysrics are a constant invitation to leave one’s treadmill and celebrate the imaginative and spiritual life within.”<br />
<i>the Catholic Herald July 31st 2015 – Francis Phillips, journalist and book reviewer </i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZGIEyXifGd9D9alt61PCEu5OhQ_8ebcQgZ3mRQ_X4npy8-O5QjQGlXA3DnufArVAz7vvrVGqzgp53KCipH5BOUsMxzDQg1eQ0_9oom5CTAVpzuzSdGpNAOuHGFX7r9Vi5UwrdxsBVpbo/s1600/Back+cover+of+Sarah%2527s+book+sneak+preview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZGIEyXifGd9D9alt61PCEu5OhQ_8ebcQgZ3mRQ_X4npy8-O5QjQGlXA3DnufArVAz7vvrVGqzgp53KCipH5BOUsMxzDQg1eQ0_9oom5CTAVpzuzSdGpNAOuHGFX7r9Vi5UwrdxsBVpbo/s400/Back+cover+of+Sarah%2527s+book+sneak+preview.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Thanks for reading, and do let me know which poems take you on a journey.. many people love the retelling of the Hermit Story.. but favourites seem to be 'I,Caterpillar', 'the Universe was not at Home', 'A Black Sheep ate my Business Notes' and the poems about Shabbat. It's been great to see the guests in the Day Centre for the homeless in Bracknall, enjoying reading them and producing their own poetic responses and later emailing them to me. That is what it's all about!<br />
<br />
Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-56278028765583180472015-11-13T20:29:00.002+00:002015-11-23T12:05:11.709+00:00Warrior<br />
<br />
<br />
In Asia, warriors do calligraphy.<br />
<br />
They know that beauty<br />
<br />
Is an act of war.<br />
<br />
<br />
A great assault against<br />
<br />
the darkness of<br />
<br />
impenetrability<br />
<br />
<br />
Against the chaos<br />
<br />
And the tearing of the word.<br />
<br />
<br />
And here in Europe, also<br />
<br />
When the spiritual warriors<br />
<br />
Held the quill<br />
<br />
<br />
And with each stroke<br />
<br />
Marked out the place<br />
<br />
Where Light could dwell<br />
<br />
<br />
We feel the focus of the human heart<br />
<br />
With laser reverence<br />
<br />
Marking out the path.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Sarah de Nordwall October 28th 2015<br />
<br />
Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-83939526524798023822015-11-13T18:03:00.000+00:002015-11-13T18:03:30.146+00:00Kintsukuroi <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO8m_3mJvQ-O5avNmxyChGT0sGKZm5aeUQD6Z27fJl1U4SqmHQ0W0o5GdZ0U_CP3Mt8RQdi2e02e4EK_cASgsKnwRWdg5bYs-Zv9SxSK1cI10BAlJWLsj4bkriiWjOCjeR3JzH_fbUCJtQ/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO8m_3mJvQ-O5avNmxyChGT0sGKZm5aeUQD6Z27fJl1U4SqmHQ0W0o5GdZ0U_CP3Mt8RQdi2e02e4EK_cASgsKnwRWdg5bYs-Zv9SxSK1cI10BAlJWLsj4bkriiWjOCjeR3JzH_fbUCJtQ/s400/photo.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Kintsukuroi -<br />
<br />
"to repair with gold" the art of repairing pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I look back at the pictures of times<br />
<br />
taken when we thought<br />
<br />
that all was well<br />
<br />
between us.<br />
<br />
<br />
I try to re-enter the moment<br />
<br />
Like Alice climbing inside<br />
<br />
The doll’s house of the past.<br />
<br />
<br />
But I do not fit.<br />
<br />
I am tall with the present<br />
<br />
Made large and clumsy by<br />
<br />
A stature of too much knowing.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Would I wish to return?<br />
<br />
To shrink down again<br />
<br />
To the size of unknowing<br />
<br />
and walk again by the round pond<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Captured there on a wild day<br />
<br />
Sparkling white on granite waves<br />
<br />
Like a sea in turmoil.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
No longer a park but a landscape.<br />
<br />
<br />
The elements seemed to know.<br />
<br />
<br />
And I rebel<br />
<br />
Reverse on my nostalgic exercise<br />
<br />
Remove myself from the scene<br />
<br />
Where entry is so rightly barred.<br />
<br />
<br />
The photograph deceives.<br />
<br />
This moment is no longer in existence<br />
<br />
And the person who encountered it<br />
<br />
Is absolutely changed.<br />
<br />
<br />
I valued and honoured everything <br />
<br />
You gave me.<br />
<br />
<br />
You took a machine gun to the life we led<br />
<br />
But all the shrapnel, <br />
<br />
falling from a brightening sky<br />
<br />
I hold in my hand<br />
<br />
<br />
And find it mended<br />
<br />
By the light<br />
<br />
<br />
Each piece miraculously sewn by <br />
<br />
mercy <br />
<br />
<br />
mine <br />
<br />
and given by a gift Divine<br />
<br />
<br />
I find has held the pieces fast<br />
<br />
<br />
No longer old<br />
<br />
This shape ceramic <br />
<br />
here repaired by gold<br />
<br />
Is Kintsukuroi<br />
<br />
<br />
Now more beautiful<br />
<br />
And open to the future<br />
<br />
And the sky.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Sarah de Nordwall. 11th October 2015<br />
<br />
<br />
Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027518648837784444.post-45297317456952514632015-11-13T17:16:00.003+00:002015-11-13T17:16:49.624+00:00Pattern of Constancy<br />
<br />
There are some people who make mosaics out of lifetimes.<br />
<br />
<br />
It’s not the simple elemental effect <br />
<br />
Of a magnet <br />
<br />
Under a page of iron filings<br />
<br />
Making a pattern like magic out of chaos<br />
<br />
With the power of the pull.<br />
<br />
<br />
It’s more conscious<br />
<br />
<br />
Careful<br />
<br />
<br />
Decided.<br />
<br />
<br />
They’ve seen the potential in the fragments<br />
<br />
And they haven’t run.<br />
<br />
<br />
They’ve seen the beauty in the fractured colours<br />
<br />
And they’ve set to work.<br />
<br />
<br />
But not without permission;<br />
<br />
This is freedom.<br />
<br />
<br />
The small exquisite pieces one by one<br />
<br />
Are taken from the dragon hoard<br />
<br />
Where stealth and sloth had piled up wealth<br />
<br />
Without a greater purpose <br />
<br />
<br />
And instead<br />
<br />
They’re having fun<br />
<br />
And so are you,<br />
<br />
<br />
Outdoors and far from the lonely mountain <br />
<br />
Where the story had begun.<br />
<br />
<br />
And now Fidelity with her listening ear<br />
<br />
And Grace with her extravagant hues<br />
<br />
<br />
Are teaching you to use <br />
<br />
each element<br />
<br />
That fell into forgetfulness<br />
<br />
<br />
Until, the muse at work, <br />
<br />
her sisters come<br />
<br />
And bring their brothers,<br />
<br />
Boldness and Redress<br />
<br />
To make the vision larger than it dared.<br />
<br />
And bring new life and glory from the Yes.<br />
<br />
<br />
Each masterpiece will find its pair<br />
<br />
Each form its purpose, free from fear.<br />
<br />
<br />
And in the making<br />
<br />
As we build<br />
<br />
Our joy and lives breathe<br />
<br />
Love fulfilled.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Sarah de Nordwall June 25th 2015<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Sarah de Nordwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01706162734273583928noreply@blogger.com0