He took off his tie

Tags

fathers day, ignite, lulu.com, poems, poetry, poetry collection

 

In honour of Father’s Day, and to continue yesterday’s theme of my love for the ocean, here’s a poem from my poetry collection, Ignite. Enjoy 😀Blessings on all the fathers, and all the stories, beginning, and ending, and beginning again…❤️

 

He took off his tie

 

 

The woman beckoned me to the bridge

and pointed.

The salmon were leaping.

 

Dad shared a memory with me recently.

It was a song that sparked it, played

by the guitarist doing covers

in the restaurant where we ate.

 

I saw Dad as a young man

taking off his tie to cast off

office life for adventure at sea.

I add this image to my own story, a preface

to well preserved childhood memories

of so many salt scented holidays.

 

The sea has always beckoned me, and

now I know a little more of why –

because Dad took off his tie.

 

How do the salmon know where to return

to after years spent maturing at sea?

 

Because I saw it myself, they do know,

that somewhere just upriver from that bridge

where I watched them fight the flow

is where their own story must return,

to begin again.

 

My collection, Ignite, is available from Lulu.com 

If you’d like a copy, please follow the link.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/harula-ladd/ignite/paperback/product-24091712.html

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Writers’ Well – Home

Tags

creative collaboration, creative writing, creativity, home, poems, poetry, writing, writing prompt

 

Home. It’s a big word, in spite of being just four letters. There are other big four letter words… love, hope, free…but for now, let’s be with Home.

Finding myself currently between outer homes, this word has been very alive in me recently,  and I was reminded of a couple of lines from a poem I heard not long ago. I’ll paraphrase, as I don’t have the text to hand. A young woman, a refugee, said she had a home, put her hand to her heart, but that now she needed a house for it.

I realised I was at risk of disconnecting myself from my inner home, as a result of the stress of needing to find a new outer home. Not that I had any issue finding somewhere temporary, I am very blessed, but I am still unsure about where I will live longer term.

Inner Home.

Outer Home.

This became the reflection for one of our prompts during last week’s writing circle. First, we drew a circle in the centre of a blank piece of paper, writing the word Home inside it. Then we wrote words and phrases inside the circle, to represent ‘inner home’, followed by words or phrases outside the circle to represent ‘outer home’.

Then we shared those thoughts, and in 7 minutes, wrote a poem.

This is what I wrote.

 

Keys,  rent, walls.

Silence, safety, pause.

Photos, laughter, food.

Roots, faith, pause.

Garden, kitchen, washing machine.

Song, heartbeat, pause.

Coats hung up to dry,

shoes leave mud on the welcome mat.

Spirit, freedom, pause.

A spare room to welcome, entertain.

When are you coming back?

Private, love, pause.

Worldly shelter, anchor.

Family, ancestor, anchor.

Pause.

Welcome.

Pause

 

What is Home to you? I’d love to read your thoughts…

 

If you enjoyed this prompt, then you can find more here:

https://wordsthatserve.wordpress.com/upcoming-writing-workshops-and-some-prompts-for-you-to-play-with/

and here:

https://wordsthatserve.wordpress.com/writing-prompts-the-elements/

 

My Book! Introducing: Ignite

Tags

book, fire, ignite, lulu.com, poems, poetry, poetry collection, publishing

Some of you will know that, over the last few months, I’ve been ‘cooking’ something other than vegetarian meals for up to 90! 😆 I am now ready, and very excited, to introduce you to – my book!

Ignite is a collection of 42 poems written over several years, loosely gathered around the theme of fire, and its qualities of light, warmth, power and transformation. Some of the poems have been shared before, either through performances at open mics or here on my blog, as well as on Facebook. Others are entirely new.

I’ve published it through Lulu.com, and it is available to purchase now. Please follow the link.

http://www.lulu.com/…/ignite/paperback/product-24091712.html

I’ve received and learned sooooo much from the process of creating this, and now I setit free, to run wild. If it makes its way to you, thank you, and I hope you enjoy it.

With love and much joy…

Harula xxx

 

Here are a few links to some of the poems included in this collection, although some may have been slightly revised during the process of editing.

https://wordsthatserve.wordpress.com/2019/02/06/tune-your-ears-to-hope-2/

https://wordsthatserve.wordpress.com/2017/03/26/love-lets-go/

https://wordsthatserve.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/thats-how-soft-re-post/

 

 

 

Writers’ Well – Time

Tags

creative writing, creativity, poem, poems, poetry, time, writing, writing prompt

A few questions for you. Well, not exactly questions, but, if I were to offer you this start to a sentence:

 

I spend too much time….

 

 

 

how would you complete it? Five times?

 

And what about:

 

I spend too little time…

 

 

And because the best things always come in threes…

 

I would like to create more time for/to…

 

Well, this was one of the prompts we worked with last Friday – completing those three sentences, each one five times, leaving us with fifteen insights into out relationship with the resource of Time,  how we’re currently using it…and what we dream of using it for.

Next, we wrote a poem inspired by that exploration…in just ten minutes.

There were some stunning responses, but I can only share my own for now…so, this is what I wrote:

 

If time were banked

In a building

On the High Street

One where the money banks

Have made way

What would the cashiers say?

What would their job be?

 

Because we can’t pay-in time

We could only bank memories

But we’d never be able to know

How much we had left to spend

Only how freely we’ve been spending

 

For time capsules

Buried with ceremony

Intended for future folk

To dig up and discover

Don’t contain time –

They contain memories

Just memories

Memories…

 

Maybe I could set up

A memory bank!

People would be advised to

Deposit once a week

What have you made

With the last seven days?

 

Not how much did you earn

The things that you bought

The stuff others can see

That’s not why you’d come

to the memory bank…

 

You’d come to remember and record

The unexpected conversation

You had with a friend

Or the salmon you saw leaping

Because someone called you over

You’d never seen them

Leaping before

 

And maybe that morning

Like any other morning

On the outside

But inwardly somehow

It felt different

You felt excited about

The next twenty four hours

In a way you hadn’t…

 

My father shared

Part of his own story recently

And though there aren’t

Memory banks on the high street

They exist

 

In the hearts of those we love

But need reminding to ask,

 

“How have you

Spent your time?”

 

If you enjoyed this prompt, then you can find more here:

https://wordsthatserve.wordpress.com/upcoming-writing-workshops-and-some-prompts-for-you-to-play-with/

and here:

https://wordsthatserve.wordpress.com/writing-prompts-the-elements/

 

 

Introducing…Poetea!

Tags

creativity, gifts, poems, poetea, poetry, tea

A few photos of a box of Poetea I made for a dear friend’s birthday!

 

 

Basically, I wrapped an empty tea box, made little paper pockets from sewn together bits of the same wrapping paper…

 

 

…and folded up a poem of mine to pack into each one like a teabag. 20 poems in all. It was a lot of fun 🙂

 

Poetry in Three!

Tags

creativity, poems, poetry, poetry to order, writing

Here’s me writing poetry to order at a Christmas Fair last year

I’ve been rediscovering my love for writing poetry for others on the spot in 3 minutes, to warm up for some Christmas ‘gigs’! Here’s one I wrote last week, for a guy who runs a local cafe. He asked for a poem on the topic of ‘Growing Teenage Girl’. Poetry has power people (but you know that…) – the conversation we had after that! And when I left, 2 hours or so later, he said I’d made his day…and it only took 3 minutes  Make someone’s day in your way today…it needn’t take long! So here it is, cheesy and raw, yes, but hey – it’s unedited and straight off the page…3 mins!

 

I know you’re growing

But I try not to see it

It was easier

When I could hold all of you

Your joys, fears

Lift you out of danger

Kiss sweet dreams

Into your forehead

Before you slept

But you’re growing

And some of those branches

Are out of my reach

Nobody teaches

Us to be parents

We have to learn

And grow too

But much as I stretch

I can’t always reach

The tips of you

So I feed the soil

With my love and trust

That if I take care

Of your roots

Keep you safe

As much as I can

Keep the fridge full

Of more than ready made crap

If you’ll eat it

And keep out home

A place filled with space and light

You’ll grow

Thrive

Be happy

 

 

And here’s another, written at a reunion with college friends. Some of it, well, you probably had to be there…written in three minutes, in a busy bar, on the sign that had reserved our table…

30 second stories

Can’t capture the lives

That have come together,

People who’ve not changed

In 21 years

And tears haven’t started yet

But the laughter’s there

And we fall

As a Renault crashes the party

We’re just getting started

But the leaving will come

Eventually too

No house to return to

Together for a party

In Postman Pat land

The fizz is flowing

Because we’re grown up now

But it’s the little ones

That give many of us

Life’s meaning

While others are dreaming

Of a life beyond the 9-5

And so the photos will capture

Moments and smiles

Until the next time

We reminisce and remember

This is what life’s about

Laughs that don’t change

And the chance to be

18 again

 

Want to try? I have an egg timer I can lend you… 😉

Affirmative Acrostics Postcards!

Tags

acrostics, communication, crafts, joy, poems, poetry, postcards, service

It’s my great joy and pleasure to introduce you to the postcards I’ve been ‘cooking’ whilst sharing this series of acrostic poems with you. I’ve been playing with the designs over the last couple of weeks, and the first sample of 10 came through earlier this week. I was ‘jump up and down, unpack them – pack them again – unpack them’ excited when I opened them! They’ve been created through a website called moo.com, and I must say I’m impressed with the quality (excellent) and cost (reasonable).

I’ve been going through them in detail,  putting improvements in place, as well as correcting some horrible mistakes (a free set of 10 of the finalised product to the first person who spots the serious mistake which can be seen in the above photo!) with the intention, in the near future, of having a starting selection of 25 ready to be sold at £1.00 per postcard.

In my dream world, having these postcards flying around the globe, and being seen not only by those who send and receive them, but also by those who sort and deliver, might serve to share the essence of some of these beautiful qualities, and spread some smiles.

So, I invite your feedback and support, and will send one of these ‘first draft’ postcards to each of the first three people who comment, wherever you are in the world! You can send your postal address to my email: harulaladd(AT)yahoo(DOT)com. Celebration and constructive criticism equally welcome, and I’d also love to receive suggestions for other words you’d like to see ‘poetisized’ (a word?) on such a card.

I really appreciate all the encouragement and support of those who’ve been regularly reading these poems, and look forward to reading your thoughts on their next evolutionary step.

With joy and gratitude,

Harula xxx

 

 

As An Artist…

Tags

art, beauty, compassion, creativity, life, living, longing, love, poems, poetry, sharing, writing

As an artist…

• I want to mine the emotions for gems of truth and wisdom
• I want to show people how amazing they are by taking soul photos while they’re not watching, and turning these invisible images into words that can be read as a map to somewhere at once absolutely the same and completely different in the world of the one who reads
• I want to remind the world of all the important things we seem to be forgetting, even though they’re right in front of our eyes
• I want to make a life as well as a living
• I want to invite myself and others to the edges and learn to fly (or build bridges)
• I want to shine a light on the knots the world has tied itself in, so skilled unknotters can see them well enough to unravel us back into freedom
• I want to write the rivers within that carry people through the landscapes of joy and sorrow so that they can enjoy them fully – and keep on moving
• I want to say, ‘this is who I am’, and to ask, ‘who are you?’
• I want to be fearless, respectful, daring and real
• I want to give Love lots of places to feel welcome so that it sticks around a while
• I want to get to know this world so well that I can recognise myself as an appreciative visitor, whilst remembering it’s not all that there is

This was my way of consciously owning that word ‘artist’ and finding out what I would aspire to do with ‘artist me’ if I let her lead. There is context and background to this inquiry, which I’ll perhaps share another time, but for now I’m very curious to know how you would complete the phrase:

As an Artist I…
OR As a writer/painter/actor I…
OR As a creative being I…

Shelter

Tags

books, library, loss, love, poems, poetry, silence, words, writing

your smile lands on my face
like a butterfly I’d go breathless for
drawn by the joy
I hatch here
in this shelter built of books

we find comfort
your smile and I
in our shared, quiet passion
and I know you’d understand
these random volumes are my friends

but did you also share my fear
of dying wasted and unused?

your smile leaves me then
and I wonder where it goes
my face feels cold
a lonely shiver
I wrap myself in unread pages

Companionship

Tags

beach, beauty, friendship, life, love, nature, poems, poetry

Her view

holds no evidence

of other humans

and she nestles in

to play her game of

‘last human on earth’

loneliness banished

by the cry of gulls

who soar and dive

their divine sky dance

as the hefty ocean waves

throw themselves onto the shore

with rhythmic resounding slaps

and pebbles titter

their race to the sea

to dive in for a swim

as the sun sparkles

on frost solid sand

that transforms

into softness and gold

at the warmth of his touch

 

what fool’s tyranny

dare claim superiority

to the rich companionship

of life