I was introduced to J. R. R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by a girl I befriended in my first year at grammar school. I was eleven years old, I’d passed the eleven-plus exam, one of a handful of girls from my South London junior school, and now I was regularly lost in […]
Category: Haibun
Late Night London
Although I love living in a small Norfolk village, where there are no shops or street lights, I miss the sounds, smells and sights of London and relish the opportunity of visiting my daughter, who still lives between Clapham Common and Battersea. I love the way buses pulse like blood through the veins of the […]
Goodbye to Summer
After the heat of summer, I welcome the chill of autumn, the expressive rolling clouds, dramatic sunsets and flash storms. It’s almost as if the lion of summer is standing at the door of the season until autumn pushes him out – and this year it has been a long transition. In our garden, leaves […]
Ordinary Interrupted
I live with my husband and two cats in a cottage that’s over a hundred years old by a river in the countryside. The garden is lush with grass and damp underfoot, nurturing robust willows and rampant weeds. The house is damp too. In the summer it’s cool and in the winter we have to […]
The Story of the Bench
Many of the people who have sat on the bench and worn smooth its hand-crafted surface have been bone-weary and hungry. How often have walkers lifted their heads from loosening the laces in their boots or removing their shoes to inhale salt on the breeze and drink in the many shades of sky and sea […]
As the Seasons Change
My husband and I were at infant and junior school together. We have a photograph of us when we were in Miss Sanderson’s class, and we not only recognise our younger selves but we can also remember the names of all the children in the photograph. We were both energetic youngsters; David was mad about […]
Departure in Pigeon Steps
For five years I’ve watched my mother be consumed by dementia. At first, nothing seemed different about her: she was a little vague and avoided groups of people. Then she forgot how to make a cup of tea, how to eat, how to dress herself. She forgot my name, how to speak and walk. This […]
Our First Glimpse of the Aurora Borealis
When we first moved up to the North Norfolk coast, when Ellen was eleven going on twelve, we were amazed not only by the wide Norfolk landscapes and gorgeous sunsets, but also by the immense night skies. We had never seen so many stars or been able to identify constellations – in London there was […]
Waiting for Autumn
The branches of apple trees are weighted with apples. Plums and quinces litter the ground and brambles are adorned with blackberries, all at different stages of ripeness: emerald, ruby and obsidian. There’s a squirrel foraging in the shade of the willow tree; it hops a short way, its tail an unfurled flag, and then stops […]
Drama in the Sky
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Haibun Monday: The Sky IS the Limit Toni is our host this Haibun Monday and she has asked us to write our haibun about the day sky – from dawn to dusk and any time in between. Norfolk is known for its flatness and big, wide open skies, where […]
writing in north norfolk 