For Those Who Bloom In The Dark
The day after Boxing Day (which should be renamed Bloodlust Day due to the number of redcoats roughing up the countryside and slaughtering foxes despite the 2004 ban) was foggy. Ordinarily, this weather would have drawn me out with my camera, clothes pulled on over the top of my pyjamas, teeth unbrushed, fast unbroken so… Continue reading An (Almost) Year End Walk
I stepped away from social media last night, and what a relief it was. I'll be away from IG and FB for all of December, and I'm already reaping the benefits - I've read for several hours (started the new issue of Mslexia and A Literary Christmas: An Anthology.) I haven't misused my time stressing… Continue reading Making Space & Time For Winter
The other day, I spoke about my brain having the audacity to try and stop me from doing things I want to do. One of those things was penning some thoughts about the book Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance by Julia Cameron. I finished it a few weeks ago and was eager to share… Continue reading The Art Of Perseverance
I am relieved to write here again; I know it's been a while. It's comfortable here, familiar, safe. I feel a contentment akin to going home to a warm house and switching the kettle on. There's that ahh factor, that 'oh yes, this is where I'm supposed to be' feeling as I get settled in,… Continue reading Taking Up Space
I posted this poem on my Facebook page and someone said it was a 'gut punch' of a poem which made my day. It's from my forthcoming collection (which has been forthcoming for far too long) that's themed on the Icelandic winter. Typically, I'm not one for writing about the gleeful times...so most of the poems… Continue reading Starving To Death In Snæland : A Poem
There have been phenomenal highs this week but also excruciating lows. Finnbjörn flew back to Iceland a few days ago (where he was greeted with another eruption AND snow), and I've been mainly feeling off-kilter since. My gut has been causing me woe (it has been, on and off, for years), and intrusive voices have… Continue reading Some Things That Brought Me Joy This Week
Here are some of the most thought-provoking, electrifying lines I copied in my One Line A Day diary (a basic, leather look Week To View I bought for a quid) in January. There are several from Katherine May's latest book Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Exhausted Age. Most of the lines in Enchantment are highly quotable. I shot the… Continue reading One Line A Day – January
I'm at my parent's house. I've taken the clock out of the living room and put it somewhere else so its ticking won't disturb me as I write. This isn't the first time I've moved the clock. If I forget to put it back before my dad gets home from work, he'll grumble about it… Continue reading It’s A New Year & I’m Struggling
Grýla was one of the first poems I wrote for my upcoming poetry collection. For those unfamiliar with Icelandic Christmas lore, Grýla is an ogress who comes down from her cave on Mt Esja (the mountain range that watches over Reykjavik) at Christmas time to steal and devour disobedient children. Grýla has been much softened over… Continue reading Grýla – A Poem
“Autumn days come quickly, like the running of a hound on the moor.” – Irish Proverb September is a frantic, exhilarating month. It's when I finally start to wake up. I hibernate the 'wrong way round' – I go to ground for the light months and wake up for the dark half of the year. … Continue reading Waking Up For The Dark Half Of The Year
A Wyrd Of Her Own 