Poetry Reading

I'm reading along side Michael O' Siadhail at Poetry in the Crypt on 29 October from 7.15 at St Mary's Church, Upper Street, Islington. £3.00 entry - £2.00 conc. All proceeds go to the St Mary's Church Homeless Project.

One Hundred Words About Children Growing

My children are growing up and I want to hold on to them. Fear dominates my thoughts when I think of them leaving the house alone in the mornings to go to school. And fear again when I think of them coming home alone, across the main road, over the level crossing. And yet they are confident and feel secure.

Today I arranged to meet my son from school. But he did not appear. So I walked slowly back until I saw his smiling face the other side of the level crossing. He greeted me with, ‘so there you are.’

One Hundred Words About Views

What a triptych of dull views I can hear you thinking and of course on one level you are absolutely right. Our friends in Abbotsbury have a view of the sea. Our friends in Toulouse live on the edge of a forest and our friends in Canada live near a ski resort. I bet the views are stunning. And friends that live near Oxford. They have an orchard for a garden. So our suburban townscape must seem pretty dull. And yet it is fascinating to me to live among so many people, each person amazing like a view of Everest.

One Hundred Words About A View

From the old house I worked mostly from the back room. There was just one small window looking out over the back garden and alleyway.

Now in the new house I am in the front of the house, sitting at a desk looking out over a bay window with three views. I can look directly down the road towards the main road filled with cars passing and the occasional pedestrian crosses. I can look directly across the road to the street and houses opposite. And then look up the road to the darker, quieter street away from the main road.

One Hundred Stressful Words

Sunday is a small breathing space. I fend off difficult thoughts that haunt us and will demand our attention as each day passes. I expect every family lives under stress. Stress is our normal state and moving house has created new pressures and strains on us all. Our bigger mortgage creates a whole range of financial pressures on us. One example is Katy will have to leave the house at eight fifteen on Wednesday’s and Thursday’s to go to work and the children will have to leave the house for school alone at eight thirty-five without us waving them off.

One Hundred Damp Words

Over the summer our stress levels were high as we moved from house to house waiting until we could move into our new home. We knew moving in wouldn’t be easy but we hoped that gradually our stress levels would decrease as everyday challenges would take over.

But I am sitting in our study where the hard rain fell this afternoon and dripped from the ceiling onto a desk with our computers and onto the new carpet we had laid. The gutters at the back of the house don’t work and there is a smell of drains in the air.

Remaking A Home

We are in our new home. We experience a whole mixture of feelings as we pass from room to room. Firstly there is the shock of boxes everywhere. There are towers of them rising up from the floor and one or two almost touch the ceiling.

Yesterday we drove to Surbition, to collect the rest of our things. So everything we have is now held within these walls. On one level I feel whole again and complete. On another everything is out of place, disordered and unfamiliar – the walls are bare.

Coming home takes time even when you are there.