When I was about nineteen and living in Cologne, after repeated ferocious tonsillitis my tonsils were finally removed. A hike in the Moselle Valley had been planned by some male friends of mine and they insisted I come along, post-operative or not. It was late autumn, frosty and cold. The ancient hotel we were staying […]
Tag: Haibun Monday
A Taste of Southern Comfort
Fifty was a special birthday for me: I had a new teaching post to start in September, my daughter had come home to celebrate with us, and I had completed half a century pretty much unscathed. I opened cards and a few presents and was feeling good. I knew that my husband was planning something, […]
One Shining Moment
One of my shiniest moments was when I played the genie of the lamp in my junior school’s production of Aladdin. I was about ten years old, very shy and lacking confidence, but I loved singing, dancing and acting, the only times when I came out of my shell. My costume was bright and colourful, […]
Impressions of New York
I was nervous about the long flight, the stories I had heard about New York, and the terrible event of the previous year. Yes, my one and only visit took place a year after 9/11. We came in to land at night, lights sparkled below us, but I was sitting in a middle aisle and […]
Shakespeare First
I have always loved Will’s work from the moment I was introduced to his plays at school, and I remember falling in love with the sonnets as if it was only yesterday. The first poems I wrote as a teenager were sonnets and I still fall into the form when I least expect it. The […]
The End of a Storm
It was the morning after a terrifying storm, and we were woken by the telephone in the very early hours. My husband was called in to secure tubes and sheets on scaffold, and to help tidy up the very large gas site, where he has worked for over twenty-seven years. As his car was out […]
On first hearing The Planets by Gustav Holst
Of all the music created by Gustav Holst, Mars, the Bringer of War was the most terrifying to my young ears. The first time I heard it was in a music lesson at school, in which we had to work out the planet for each of the seven pieces, and I sensed darkness, drama and […]
Spring is already here…
In our garden we have green daffodil leaves, a small clump of snowdrops, buds on the cherry tree and honeysuckle tendrils. I’ve seen catkins dangling from branches and fuzzy pussy willow buds on my way to and from home. And we have cock pheasants strutting about noisily, facing up to each other. Mother Nature hums […]
And we begin again
The new year always makes me melancholy. The idea of having to start all over again is depressing, having been through it so many times in my life. I try to ignore it. On New Year’s Eve, I shut the curtains on fireworks and revelry, read a book and listen to music. The next day […]
Hawk Moth Caterpillar
When I was little, we lived with my grandparents and later, when my parents had a place of their own, I spent most of the summer holidays with them. If I wasn’t staying over, my nan would collect me in the morning and take me all the way back at the end of the day. […]
