Dedicated publisher of fiction, poetry and memoir
In today's entry, I take a look at another poem by Seamus Heaney, 'The Blackbird of Glanmore,' and the extended metaphor of the 'house of life' presented therein. It's something I've been thinking about a lot during this strange period of quarantine, with a little time and stillness to reflect upon my life and re-evaluate... Continue Reading →
The two of us looked out at the blue sky, the bare chestnut tree glistening with dew, the seagulls and other birds glinting with silver as they swooped through the air, and we were so moved and entranced that we couldn't speak.Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, 23 February 1944 As I write... Continue Reading →
Do you remember that night, the night we talked? It was a fine and starlit night. Somewhere backstage, a salamander sounded the depths of the night, his mating call a sonar probe, rebounding and marking out the limits of our world. We didn't need a territory greater than this, delineated by his echoing mating call:... Continue Reading →
In today's post I take a look at what's happening (or not happening) 'out there' in what used to be called 'the real world.' Commercial activities have been stripped down to the bare minimum, and many people have been brought to question their whole value system because of this. Empty aisles Yesterday, I ventured into... Continue Reading →
Though I've already written about finding balance in earlier entries, in today's post I'd like to dig a little deeper by exploring the concept of balance in nature, and in life. I will then look at how we can apply this concept to help us deal with the unique challenges posed by lockdown during the... Continue Reading →
After so long waiting, I had finally arrived. I had coveted the dustbin for years: stainless steel; easy-clean; antibacterial. Best of all was the footpedal which meant you would never have to touch it, except to take the bag out. This would be contained within an odour-eliminating, sleekly streamlined plastic capsule. The insanitary sanitised once... Continue Reading →
I was doing pretty well in quarantine. You might have seen my earlier entries: they were all about 'finding balance', staying calm and facing our fears. Then my body threw me a curve ball. It's the same curve ball it throws me every month, but right now I'm finding it particularly difficult to deal with.... Continue Reading →
In the last few entries, I've been focusing on meditation and mindfulness as a means of staying sane during the current crisis. That does not mean, however, that we should never admit that we are scared. An important part of any recovery or self-discovery process is to bring our fears into the open. In examining... Continue Reading →
6 days in, I realise I'm a quarantine rookie. From the moment I wake up, everything is getting on my nerves. Try as I might, I can't seem to get a moment's peace, I can't get on with my work, I don't get my son through all his schoolwork, and I end up being mean... Continue Reading →
Poem of the Day: Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798 By William Wordsworth. I've chosen this poem because to me it describes most perfectly the experience of meditation, of switching off the mind and making contact with the Divine. The... Continue Reading →
