Poet’s Think They’re It

First, you take a twinkle in God's eye.

I don't know, perhaps being the Only One was

Too lonely, even for a Deity. So ...

In an explosion of imagination, it all kicked off.

Did She have to think about, for, like,

Eons? Imagining the juxtaposition of quarks

The spin of electrons and

The mass of a boson?

I doubt it.

I'm alert to the possibility that

God thought, one day, of Me.

"Now THERE'S a thing!" He cried. 

"Let's do this!"

And out it came!

The firmament -

The waters above and below -

Stars, bears, whales and flowers -

(I am especially fond of flowers)

!

I don't expect that God had to gather, chop and stir

I'm Old School. 

I think They said,

"Let there be Light,"

And there was light.

And at the end of it all,

There

Was

ME! 

Grandma School

This is a multiage, multidisciplinary project for my grandchildren aged 12. 8 and 5 years. . It comprises Geography, Orienteering, Observation, English language and literature, mathematics and science. It’s here for them, but might give  others some ideas too. 

1. Here’s a walk in Newent. It is less than 2km from your home. Find it on the map of the town:

2. Park outside Granparents house and make a lot of noise until they come to the window! Wave! 
3. Look at the compass at the top of the map. Head south until: HERE! 

3. Follow the footpath marked on the map. Spot where grandad was at these locations. They are in order:

4. When you get HERE, head south again towards Highfield Cottage. Without cheating, time how many steps you take in one minute. Count them. 

Sam count in ones. Abigail shout , “Buzz” on every multiple nine, Rosie, record the number of steps taken by Dad and Sam, and work out the ratio when you get home. 




5. On your walk you will see these plants. Find them on the internet before you leave and put a cross on the map where  you see them: 

Viola raviniana 

Narcissus pseudonarcissus

Arum maculatum

Ficaria verna 

Taraxacum officianale

Which one of these is also called pis-a-lit in French: what does that mean in English? 

6.  Find and read the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus.

7. Find and read William Wordsworth’s poem, ‘The  Daffodils’ as dramatically as you can. Then in a very silly voice. 

8. Wordsworth lived in the Lake District find how many miles away that is and Rosie, convert the total to km. 

9. What does the word, “Dove” have to do with Wordsworth, and what was his Sister’s name? 

10. Make a video about your walk and put on your family web page! 

Most of all. Have fun! 

Love, Grandma. 

Grandma’s Bio: Retired headteacher of a small multi age village primary school. Millennium Award recipient, designated a ‘Global Teacher’ Former Head Teacher of the only state Primary in the south of England that was authorised to teach the International Baccalaureate (Primary Years) Missing the kids. 

Apocalypse Now?

A verse in the bible that caught my eye, oh, so long ago, is this one:" As in the days of Noah people will be going about their business, then, Wham! It's all over! No-one will see it coming ..." (You may not recognise this as word for word, from Matt 24, , but believe me, I've caught the gist.) 

There is a myth in the bible about a righteous man, Noah, who built an enormous boat and saved himself and his family from a worldwide flood. It goes like this:Everyone else went about harming themselves and killing others, so God called, "Time!" and sent a flood to wipe everybody out except the good guys, and two, or five, of every animal, who went into self-isolation in that very, very, big boat. The naughty people,meanwhile,  had been going to the market and hiring wedding venues, just as they always did, entirely oblivious to their impending doom. Noah had seen it coming, and bought gopher wood.

 

I little care about offending bible literalists who shy away in disbelief at my use of the word, "myth" . A story can be a myth, and still carry an essential truth. Myths usually do... Bhuddists call it Karma, when bad things happen as a consequence of terrible behaviour. "You plant a peach tree, you get peaches ..." That's how it is. The idea of a vengeful deity who can create flawed people in the first place, then drown them for their flaws, doesn't do it for me.

 

Moving on ..

So, this isn't the end of the world then. The pandemic isn't an unforeseen event, the virus won't discriminate between the goodies and the baddies, but nevertheless, this DOES feel a bit apocalyptic, I think because the world as we knew it on 1January 2020, will not be the world that it is unfolding.

 

Imagine what it could become. There's the world of the low-life who mugged the nurse for her ID, and stole the grocery-shop from the boot of the car of the man in a wheelchair, there's always that option. Those would be the people who will eventually drown in the flood of their own inhumanity. Then there are my people, your people, who are responding to this worldwide emergency with an outpouring of goodness and compassion.

 

Let's work on that one. The ark that we have built is our ordinary everyday good-heartedness that will not see a neighbour go hungry, or a homeless man die on the streets. Threats too big for us to imagine, change the world, but first, they change us.

 

Stay well.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Progress!

The Indoor Bucket List is making some progress, though not in the garden:too wet. Making the sourdough starter has met with a couple of setbacks: the floor and water option dried into an unappetising lump, the second go was a ‘nonstarter’ because I bought the wrong sort of yoghurt, which  then ended up as yesterday’s dessert. Today’s attempt will be Betty Crocker’s recipe which requires regular yeast. Wish me luck. 

I’ve picked the banner, and will begin sorting out fabric once I’ve got the starter on the rise. 

I’ve finished the Labour Party Newsletter and it’s ready for approval by the Exec Committee, so I’m ahead of the game. Eleven weeks five days to go. 

I’m writing this whilst watching Silent Witness.series 16 Episode 2, 

My Awakened Heart

I'm not a terribly religious person. My prayer life is erratic, my behaviour pretty much indistinguishable from that of every normal grandmother with a comfortable lifestyle, just follow me on Twitter if you need proof of my utter normality... .

 

But it's Lent, and as the memorial of the death of the Beloved approaches, I make a bit of an effort. By a series of almost random events, I find myself this year making the most of the Mystics .I hadn't thought them to be so grounded, so loving and humble. I like them.

 

It's probably an advantage being a poet, to begin to make sense of the language of a mystic, because they have to resort to metaphor and imagery to try to express what is beyond knowing or to make sense of what cannot even be known, that can only be experienced. Frankly, boxing Experience into the word, 'God', doesn't work so well any longer, and may be evidenced in our failure to attract people to our faith and religious practices. Maybe drawing people into the experience of unconditional love, makes more sense than trying to get them into a church?

 

I'm at the end of what I know, which is so little, but this I have learned. I was known and loved from before the cosmos took shape, and every breath I take is a gift. This is my truth, which will seem delusional to most of you who read this, but as Thomas Merton writes:

 

"I will not break faith with my awakened heart."

 

And so, Thomas Merton, by James Finley:

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/turning-to-the-mystics-with-james-finley/id1494041647?i=468517468

Posted with Blogsy

Well, Isn’t This Fun?

As one of The 'Loved Ones' scheduled for possible elimination, I'm in an apocalyptic state of mind. “What? “ I'm asking myself. “Would I like to be my ' last post'? What would be my final message from the gallows? The final cry before going under the wheels of that bus?”

I have a cold. Is it a cold? My temperature’s at 36.2C Is that good news  or bad? Yesterday it was 35.6C . What’s THAT all about?

Despite the rather gloomy opening, I'm fine. Absolutely fine. I'm rather looking forward to being a shut-in. I have composed a  " Self-Isolator Indoor Bucket List" and this is it:

1. Clear my large unruly garden of ground elder.
2. Perfect the art of making sourdough bread.
3. Journal on this Blog every day.
4. Write a discussion paper for the Labour Party Branch that I'm Cnair of, to keep the red flag flying here.
5. Finish at least two of the unread books sitting on my Kindle
6. Make a Banner for Church
7. Taxt or call my daughters every day.
8. Call my friends
9. Binge Watch 'Silent Witness' on Iplayer
10. Perfect the habit of no-waste home-catering
11. Get seriously into National Poetry Month this year.
12. Work on the Parish Plan

So, this isn't my last post by any means. Hopefully

:)