Chanticleer

 

Chanticleer

 High and proud on the barnyard fence
Walks rooster in the morning.
He shakes his comb, he shakes his tail
And gives his daily warning.

"Get up, you lazy boys and girls,
It's time you should be dressing!"
I wonder if he keeps a clock,
Or if he's only guessing.

 

by John Chipman Farrar  

 
© by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes

 

This splendid rooster came racing down the field, at speed, to greet me this morning when I was out for a walk. He was sadly disappointed to discover I didn't have anything for him to eat, but stood proud and posed for a photo nonetheless. 

 

Cockerels feature in many fables and tales. Click here for one of my favourites, The Musicians of Bremen. Click here to read more about roosters and cockerels. 

 

Click here to hear a very young Mick Jagger singing 'Little Red Rooster'. 

Writing prompts:

• Are you an early riser? What, or who, wakes you in the morning. Write for a few minutes about your morning routine. 
• Describe an occasion when you stood proud, looking your absolute best. 
• Who would you race to meet if you saw them in the distance. Write about that person and your need to greet them.
  

 

 

 

Kindness and Hope

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"A world full of hope and kindness is a more beautiful world. A society that looks to the future with confidence and treats people with respect and empathy is more humane.

"Even if we do not know what tomorrow may hold for us, we should not look to the future with pessimism and resignation.

"War, social injustices and the many forms of violence we are exposed to everyday should not dishearten us nor draw us towards scepticism and discouragement.

“We choose love, and love makes our hearts fervent and hopeful. Those who love, even if they find themselves in uncertain situations, always view the world with a gentle gaze of hope.

“Kindness is a form of love that opens hearts to acceptance and helps us all to become more humble. And how important humility is – humility lends itself to dialogue, helps to overcome misunderstandings and generates gratitude.” (Pope Francis)

Pope Francis died today, aged 88. I'm not a Roman Catholic, or indeed a Christian, but his words (above) on kindness on 'Thought for the Day' message on BBC Radio 4, at the end of last year, I found thought-provoking and moving. Click here to listen. 

Click here for a Loving Kindness meditation. 

Look at the writing prompts below to explore your own thoughts on kindness, hope and love. 

Writing prompts:

• Write about what ' beautiful world' 'full of hope and kindness' looks like.
• Is it easy to look to the future with hope and optimism, rather than 'pessimism and resignation'? Explore this question in your writing. 
• Do you agree that kindness is a form of love that helps us to become more humble? Write about your own experience.
• Are there 'misunderstandings' in your life right now? If so, do you think they could be overcome with more humility that might lead to dialogue? 
• Write a letter, full of kindness and gratitude, to someone you love, but have some difficulty with at the moment. Decide then whether or not you want to post it.
  

 

 

 

 

Cats I Have Known

 

Cats

Cats sleep, anywhere,
Any table, any chair
Top of piano, window-ledge,
In the middle, on the edge,
Open drawer, empty shoe,
Anybody's lap will do,
Fitted in a cardboard box,
In the cupboard, with your frocks-
Anywhere! They don't care!
Cats sleep anywhere.

Eleanor Farjeon

 "Quick! quick! ...

Quick!   quick!

    The cat's been sick.

Where?   where?

    Under the chair.

Hasten!   hasten!

    Fetch the basin.

Alack!   alack!

    It is too late,

The carpet's in

    An awful state.

No!   no!

    It's all in vain,

For she has licked it

    Up again.

By Anonymous

 

We have teenage cats, sisters Poco and Brio (odd but musical names). They are 17 now, and according to Purina UK, that's equivalent to 84 human years. They have slowed down a bit and spend most of their day asleep in the warmest spot available. They no longer hunt, so no more rescuing tiny mice cowering inside shoes in the porch. Arthritis seems to be a problem for Poco, who doesn't find jumping easy these days. Brio, on the other hand, can still be quite a kitten given a ping pong ball to play with, but sadly is going deaf.

 

I've lived with cats for most of my life. The first one, when I was growing up, was named Oedipus, I think by my sister, but from day one was known as 'The Pussy'! She was cosseted by my parents with fresh fish, best minced beef and calf's liver and slept in the airing cupboard in their bedroom. My dad was heartbroken when she died.

 

Then along came Tuppence, a big, beautiful silver tabby who was born in a neighbour's garage. He was a character and lived to be 18. He went blind towards the end of his life, so became a house cat. His best friend was a large, handsome Airedale Terrier called Nelson who lived down the street. I was heart broken when Tuppy died. 

We were told, in no uncertain terms by a vet at the RSPCA in Bradford when we 'rescued' Poco and Brio, "These cats will eat dry biscuits and drink water - nothing else." We've stuck to that regime and it seems to have been good advice. No calf's liver and fresh cream for them, although Poco has a penchant for Brio's sicked-up breakfast!

 

Writing prompts:

• Describe the place where you usually sleep, using all your senses.
• Imagine you are a cat and write about your day.
• Write about a pet you have known. 
• If someone cosseted you what would you love them to feed you?
  

'The Sound of Music'

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This year marks the 60th anniversary of the film 'The Sound of Music.' I remember going to see it when it was released, I think at the Gaumont Cinema in Bradford when I was nine years old. I loved it, and still do. 

My friends went to see it too and afterwards we spent our playtimes adopting the roles of the von Trapp girls:  Liesl, Louisa, Brigitta, Marta or Gretl and singing 'Do-Re-Mi' as best we could. Recently I've enjoyed singing some of the songs from the film in my choir. 

Click here to read more about how the 60th anniversary is being celebrated in Salzburg, the location for the film and where the true story of the von Trapps also took place.

Click here for interviews with the actors who played the von Trapp children. 

Click here and here for video clips from the film. 

Writing prompts:

• 'Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens' - make a list of your 'favourite things' then choose one to write about in more detail for a few minutes.
• Can you remember being 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen'? Set a timer for six minutes and write about your experience of being that age.
• Have you got memories of going to the cinema as a child? If so, recall them in your writing.
• Write about your favourite film.
  

 

A Drop of Water

 

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"Mountains and oceans have whole worlds of innumerable wondrous features. We should understand that it is not only our distant surroundings that are like this, but even what is right here, even a single drop of water."
Dōgen

"In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one aspect of You are found all the aspects of existence."
Kahlil Gibran Jr.

Writing prompts:

• Look around you and write about the 'innumerable wondrous features' of something you can see right now, in your room.
• Now choose a distant mountain or ocean that you have visited (in reality, or in your imagination) and describe it in your writing using all your senses..
  

'Happy and Beautiful Crocus'

 

"Soon as the frost will get out of my bed,
From this cold dungeon to free me,
I will peer up with my little bright head;
All will be joyful to see me.

Then from my heart will young petals diverge,
As rays of the sun from their focus;
I from the darkness of earth will emerge,
A happy and beautiful crocus.

Gaily array'd in my yellow and green,
When to their view I have risen,
Will they not wonder that one so serene
Came from so dismal a prison?

Many, perhaps, from so simple a flower
This little lesson may borrow —
Patient to-day, through its gloomiest hour,
We come out the brighter to-morrow.

from Hannah Flagg Gould's Crocus poem 'The Crocus's Soliloquy'

A colourful river of crocuses surrounds the green in Wyke, near my home. It's a spectacular sight and guaranteed to raise one's spirits, especially when seen in the Spring sunshine. 

The crocus is a symbol of hope for this poet.

Writing prompts:

• Set a timer and write for six minutes about your 'gloomiest hour.'
• Do you agree with the poet that if you are 'patient' through difficult times you will come out brighter in the end? Can adversity make us stronger? Write about it. 
• Like the crocus, what else is a symbol of hope for you? Explore this in your writing.
  

Poetry Survives Uncertain Times

 'Whatever happens, laughter survives.

Whatever happens, birdsong survives.

Whatever happens, poetry survives.'

Ian McMillan

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the Covid pandemic. There were events all over the UK to mark the anniversary. Click here to find out more.  

We were entering uncertain times in March 2020. I was just a few days away from becoming very ill with the virus, but as writer Michael Rosen reminds us, in his haunting poem written for the anniversary, many lost their lives to Covid. Click here for his poem.  

None of us could have predicted just how huge the pandemic would become, nor for how long its repercussions would last. Long Covid remains.

A degree of uncertainty still exists today. We're no longer battling Covid, but who knows how events across the globe will pan out in the coming weeks and months? In a message to mark Commonwealth Day,  King Charles is to call for unity and building bridges in what he describes as "these uncertain times" of international tension.

Uncertainty is stressful and unsettling, so it's comforting to remind ourselves of those things that remain stable and predictable. This spring, daffodils will bloom, lambs will be born, leaves will begin to appear on trees, the sun will continue to rise each morning and my baby grandson will chuckle when he sees me again.

It was good to see poet Mark Douglas (above) out in sunshine of Hebden Bridge this afternoon, offering his 'four-minute' poems to visitors. As fellow poet Ian McMillan reminds us this week, poetry is one of the things that we can rely upon to survive these uncertain times. 

Writing prompts:

• Set a timer for six minutes and write about your experience of the Covid pandemic.
• Do you think we live in uncertain times? Write about how you feel about what is happening globally right now.
• Apart from laughter, birdsong and poetry, what do you think will survive, whatever happens? Make a list. 
• Set your timer for four minutes and write a poem about Spring.