'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.
  

Mad As A March Hare

 

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Hares at Play
The birds are gone to bed, the cows are still,
And sheep lie panting on each old mole-hill;
And underneath the willow's gray-green bough,
Like toil a-resting, lies the fallow plough.
The timid hares throw daylight fears away
On the lane's road to dust and dance and play,
Then dabble in the grain by naught deterred
To lick the dew-fall from the barley's beard;
Then out they sturt again and round the hill
Like happy thoughts dance, squat, and loiter still,
Till milking maidens in the early morn
Jingle their yokes and sturt them in the corn;
Through well-known beaten paths each nimbling hare
Sturts quick as fear, and seeks its hidden lair.

by John Clare 

 All things that love the sun are out of doors;
The sky rejoices in the morning's birth;
The grass is bright with rain-drops;—on the moors
The hare is running races in her mirth;
And with her feet she from the plashy earth
Raises a mist, that, glittering in the sun,
Runs with her all the way, wherever she doth run.

 from 'Resolution and Independence' by William Wordsworth

We may have disturbed a boxing match this afternoon. As we cycled past a long, wide field, near Pickering, over the hedge we saw two beautiful, nut brown hares. After giving us a cursory glance, they fled, at speed. 

I've been fortunate enough to see a hare almost every day this week while out and about around Normanby. They are very busy at this time of year as it's the breeding season. If you spot them boxing, the chances are that a reluctant female is fighting off a too-persistent male. Click here and here to find out more.

Much folklore is attached to hares. Click here to find out more and listen to folk music featuring the hare.   

There's a history of hares being linked to the moon, with 'moon-gazing' hares a symbol of fertility.  I was given a moon-gazing hare for my 50th birthday!

Hares feature in stories. As a child one of my favourites was 'Little Grey Rabbit's Birthday' by Alison Uttley in which Hare finds it hard to keep secret a surprise birthday party. 

Click here to read Aesop's fable about the hares and the frogs and here to read 'The Hare and the Tortoise.'

Read about a real-life treasure hunt for a golden hare in 'Masquerade' by Kit Williams. 

Writing prompts:

• Write about a time when, like the 'timid hare' in John Clare's poem, you were able to 'throw daylight fears away', then 'dance and play'?
• Have you ever found it hard to keep a secret? Write about what happened. 
• Write a poem about the most beautiful animal you have ever seen.
  

 

'Glad That I Live Am I'

 

  "Glad that I live am I;
That the sky is blue;
Glad for the country lanes
And the fall of dew.
After the sun the rain,
After the rain the sun;
This is the way of life,
Till the work be done.
All that we need to do,
Be we low or high,
Is to see that we grow,
Nearer the sky."

We used to sing this song (or is it a hymn?) when I attended Thornbury Infants' School in Bradford. The tune has stuck, as those from childhood do.

It came into my head today while I was out walking high up on Caulkleys Bank in North Yorkshire, above Nunnington Hall and the River Rye.

It was a beautiful day and really felt like Spring, with sunshine, blue skies and snowdrops in abundance. I was entirely alone, singing as I walked along and these words from Lizette Woodworth Reese seemed quite apt. I felt very near to the sky. 

If you click on the videos, you'll see where I was. You may want to turn down the sound as there is a lot of noise from the wind. Don't forget either to click on the hyperlinks I insert into all my posts for extra information. 

I would welcome any feedback re my blog, either via the comments box below, or my email:

judith.boardman@gmail.com

Writing Prompts:

• I felt lucky and privileged to be outdoors today, enjoying nature. Such times lift the spirits. Write about the last time you enjoyed being outdoors and how it made you feel.
• What makes you glad that you live? Maybe make a list of all the things that come to mind, then choose one to write about in more detail.
• Perhaps there are times when you are not glad to be alive.  If so, and you are able, set a timer for six minutes and write about such a time.
  

Calling All Senophiles

  

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Winter Moon

Brightly the moon like a jewel is beaming,
White in the east, o’er a lone landscape gleaming,
Over the meadows and over the snow,
Glimmering, shimmering, silvery glow.

Low in the east, when the gloaming is ending,
Slowly this white winter moon is ascending.
Looming so large and appearing so nigh,
Satellite framed by a star-spangled sky.

High in the sky with soft radiance teeming,
Nigh to the time when men, women are dreaming,
Weird is her splendour on valley and hill,
Cold is her gleam upon river and rill.

Brightly the moon like a jewel is shining,
White in the west she is slowly declining,
Beautiful moon! Which beams gorgeous and grand
Over the homes of our own Native Land.

– Charles Nevers Holmes

The moon is at its fullest and most beautiful tonight. Known as the Snow Moon because February was (and still is in some places) a time of heavy snow, it also has several other names. Click here to find out more.

Click here to find out about the bright star Regulus that sits just below the moon this evening.

Folklore and myths about full moons abound, but there does seem to be evidence that the current Snow Moon can affect your sleep pattern. Click here to read more.

Click here for quotes about the moon.

Writing prompts:

• If you can, go outside this evening and observe the Snow Moon, then return to the warmth, sit down and write for six minutes about whatever comes into your head.
• It's been a long time since we had really deep snow. Write about a memory you have of snow, using all your senses to describe that time.
• Are you a good sleeper? Do you think your sleeping pattern may have been altered by the moon's phases? Write about your experience of sleep. 

Snowdrop Time

 

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Snowdrop Time
Ah, hush! Tread softly through the rime,
For there will be a blackbird singing, or a thrush.
Like coloured beads the elm-buds flush:
All the trees dream of leaves and flowers and light.
And see! The northern bank is much more white
Than frosty grass, for now is snowdrop time.
Mary Webb

The snowdrops outside our house were limp and forlorn today, soaked by persistent drizzle (and pee from one or two local dogs). I know they will soon perk up when the sun breaks through. Click here to read more about these resilient winter superstars. Click here to learn more about the author and poet Mary Webb. 

Click here for a short video on snowdrops.

Type 'snowdrops' into the search box on this blog to find more poems and writing prompts about these delicate, but tough little flowers.

Like them, we all need a little bit of sunshine to warm our hearts and revive us when we're bending under the weight of anxiety or sadness.

Writing prompts:

• Write about a time when you have felt 'limp and forlorn'. What has helped to revive you?
• Go for a walk and notice the signs of forthcoming Spring all around. How do these make you feel? Write about your walk using all your senses.
• On this grey February day are you dreaming 'of leaves and flowers and light'? Write about what difference they will make.
  

Remembering a Halifax Trailblazer

 

"To my mind there has been no age like the present one. To be able to carve out a career for oneself without the feeling of a sex barrier is a joy and a delight." Laura Annie Willson The Sunday Times, 1927

The canal towpath at Salterhebble in Halifax, which was closed for a long time while a new road bridge was constructed, is open again. While cycling along it on our tandem recently we noticed that the bridge now has a name - 'Laura Annie Willson Bridge'. To my shame, I had never heard of this woman, but presumed she had some connection to Halifax. 

A Google search soon revealed what an extraordinary and inspiring woman she was and how fully deserving she is to have a bridge named after her.

The 'Visit Calderdale website' tells us:

"Laura Annie Willson MBE was a pioneering suffragette, social reformer, and industrial engineer whose contributions to women’s rights, housing reform, and engineering shaped not only Halifax but the wider world, leading to her becoming one of the first women to be awarded an MBE!"

She was twice imprisoned for her activism and dedicated herself to improving housing conditions for the working class, designing and overseeing the construction of affordable homes. You can still see them in the Nursery Lane area of Ovenden, Halifax.

Click here and here to read more about this fearless, principled Halifax trailblazer.

Writing prompts:

• What do you think were the challenges for Laura Willson as a working class girl growing up in Halifax at the end of the 19th century? What motivated her to try to improve lives for others? Explore the answers to these questions in your writing.
• Write about what motivates you to take action. 
• Laura Willson tackled injustices in society. Do these still exist? Write about them.
• Read Laura Willson's quote at the top of this page. Is it still true today and can women 'carve out a career for oneself without the feeling of a sex barrier'?

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