Month: April 2023

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NaPoWriMo 2023 6 – The Shadow

This is just a bit of word-play inspired by a recent conversation about Jung’s idea of the shadow which dwells in all of us, the side of ourselves we want to hide from the world.

I don’t often write rhyming verse, but I do like to use alliteraton and slant rhymes.

The Shadow

You cannot see me,
I am an empty space,
a void, a vacuum,
a black hole,
beyond the bounds
of visibility.

A nullity, a negative,
a nothingness,
I slip beneath your notice,
and past the perimeter
of your perceptions.

Linda Rushby 16 April 2023

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NaPoWriMo 2023 – 5 Memorial

Memorial

Bronze plaque on a wooden bench
commemorates a life.

A woman,
born two years after me,
died a quarter century ago.

‘Loving wife and mother,
who loved this place.’

Some of us are blessed with joy,
and some with time.

Linda Rushby 5 April 2023

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NaPoWriMo 2023 4 – Spring Walk

Spring Walk

Bare branches inked
against a pale sky.

Hawk hovers,
then passes over me.

Under the trees,
sounds of birdsong,
earth-smells of leafmould;
rotting remains of
last year’s life
nurturing new generations.

White chalk crumbles
over smooth grey flint,
prized by our ancesters.

Everything is held
in potential.

Linda Rushby 5 April 2023

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More poems?

A couple of days ago, I got a notification on Facebook that there had been two visits to my Solent Green FB page – which suggested to me that someone (I think I can guess who) had visited it to see if I’d posted any more poems.

I hadn’t, although I did actually write two more in the days following the last one I posted – scribbled on a scrap of paper when I was out for a walk while staying at the family holiday cabin in the Surrey Hills. When I got back to the cabin, I found there was a problem with my laptop (which has since resolved itself), and the next day I went to stay at my daughter’s for my birthday/Easter weekend, so I haven’t done any more since – until this morning, when inspiration struck again.

So I thought I’d rescue the scrappy piece of paper from my handbag and type them all up.

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NaPoWriMo 2023 -3 Blocked

Blocked

I used to have a writer’s head
but when I looked, the muse had fled.

I thought I had a line today,
I tried to chase another one,
but then the first one ran away
and I was left with none.

My brain is locked,
my writing’s blocked.
What else is there to say?

Linda Rushby 4 April 2023

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NaPoWriMo 2023-2 Spring Morning

Open your door and snuff the air,
like a fox emerging from its earth,
survivors from their dugouts.
Like a curious cat,
scenting adventure,
or a cautious one,
checking for changes
from the familiar.

Under those lowering skies,
between those scattered showers,
seeking the truth:
bright patches of colour among dark leaves;
snatches of birdsong among the traffic.

Like a heart waiting for hope.
Like a lost poet, seeking the next word.

Linda Rushby 2 April 2023

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NaPoWriMo 2023 – 1 The Last Bridge

The Last Bridge

You crossed the last bridge
and here you stand.
Nowhere else to go,
and nothing to change
except yourself.

You wanted to know her better,
you thought that was the way
to find some kind of peace,
and reconciliation.

But what you learned did
nothing of the kind.
She is just as stubborn,
and you as confused,
as you always were.

You are both as bad as each other,
you and your own worst enemy.
You cannot change her,
and you cannot love her.

You have crossed the last bridge,
and there’s nowhere else to go.

Linda Rushby April 2023

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Late Start…

…to NaPoWriMo, with a poem I wrote last week (as explained yesterday), one I wrote yesterday, and a third one just written. This gives me three poems for four days, so I will just number them sequentially. Maybe I’ll catch up eventually, probably not.

In fact, I’ve just discovered that it wasn’t yesterday, it was the day before, I didn’t post anything at all yesterday. On the other hand, I have a feeling that I wrote an extra poem last year so maybe it balances out.

I seem to have a problem with integrating my soshul meeja – my last blog post didn’t automatically get shared on Facebook, as it used to (as recently as the previous post from 26 February), but did go automatically on Twitter. Instagram, however, which I’ve been using to post a daily photo since the start of the year, has NOT given me the option to share on Twitter since 10 February, although prior to that it was doing so automatically. If anybody has any idea how I can rectify this, I’d love to know.

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Updates

Sunday 2 April 2023

I didn’t think I was going to do this – a bit late in the day for me to start. But as you can see (if you’ve been here before) I spent this morning sorting out a few changes to this blog. It’s part of a process – long overdue – of attempting to overhaul my online presence in general, including buying a new domain name (lindarushby.com), sorting out what’s worth keeping and what needs doing to it, and transferring it all to new and hopefully more cost effective hosting – quite a challenge after over twelve years in one place, and I’ve got about three months left to get it done before letting go of the old damson-tree.co.uk stuff. Which is a bit over-optimistic given that I’ve also sort-of committed myself to finishing The Long Way Back by the end of the year. We shall see.

But last week I wrote a new poem, in response to one I found printed on an A4 sheet among some other stuff. I don’t know where it came from, I can’t remember the name of the writer, and I Googled what I thought was the title this morning without finding anything relevant, but I expect at some point I’ll find that A4 sheet again and be able to give credit where credit is due.

In the mean time, I now have two poems to offer for this year’s NaPoWriMo.