♦
“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.”
Mud.
Thick, cloying, seeping.
Consuming, filthy, blanket
binding you as brothers
in mud laden arms.
Bath.
Soap, water, scrub.
Submerged, aching, wallowing
purging you as brothers
in trenches of white.
Search.
Memories, mind, self.
Trapped, engulfed, besieged
chains you as brothers
in images of hell.
Write.
Poetry, prose, horror.
Dredge, expose, release
links you as brothers
in words of truth.
Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first meeting between Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon at Craiglockhart War Hospital August 1917
The meeting lead to Owen’s haunting ‘war poems’. He was born in Oswestry and lived in my home town of Shrewsbury, England.
‘Poppies for Peace’ Rebecca Pells
Images in time, do you still see
the girl who was lost or the woman flown free?
♦
A gathering lining of rich silver hue
clouds part once more to capture anew
one step at a time reluctant to stay
accept at last that time goes away.
♦
The moment has gone, now do you see
the girl who was lost or the woman flown free?
You wake one morning and sense a change, a slight shifting of the sand,
a murmured whisper, the faintest touch upon your hand.
Was it the waking from a dream or the mourning of a death,
was it joy anew of passion found or the drawing of first breath?
Was it the void of emptiness or vast realm of possibility,
was it the final release or acceptance of futility?
With a backward glance I view the bridge where yesterday I stalled
until the night stepped forth and accepting as it called
I gave surrender as it carried me across.
‘Olives’s Table’
available from
https://www.artfinder.com/product/olives-table/
A couple of weeks ago I was contemplating the subject of my next painting and looking for inspiration. Around the same time I took delivery of a small mahogany sewing table which originally belonged to my great Aunt Olive. When she passed away some thirty years ago it came into my father’s possession and has lived the last three decades in his spare room, somewhat forgotten.
A journey of two hundred miles in the boot of the car has brought it to rest in my home. An ideal size and height and with a suitable covering for protection, it is has found it’s place in my studio as a table for my brushes and water pot. Practicalities aside, I’m surprised at how fond I have become of this little table, this physical link which ties one female generation of my family to another. Slightly battered in places it is of no great monetary value, neither would it take pride of place in a smart antique shop.
However, it does exude charm and on investigation of the deep drawer suspended below the table top, I found my aunt’s personal sewing items – half used reels of thread, a wooden darning ‘mushroom’ and most touching of all – a felt needle case embroidered with her initials. Immediately I was reminded of my mother’s needle case with it’s navy blue initialled cover and I clearly remember how she taught me to make my own. I now have all three, a very real thread to the women of my family, items which would have been in daily use by them and as a young girl my own was too.
Then it became unfashionable to make do and mend and financially possible to buy new socks, or a skirt from a boutique rather than homemade. And thus a small sewing table became just a piece of furniture, no longer used as the cabinet maker conceived. But this little table has come into my life just at the right time and has found a life anew and is in daily use once more. I also found my inspiration, as I felt this small piece of my heritage deserved a painting of it’s own and so I set it up with a vase of white roses in memory of my recently deceased father along with a book of Longfellow’s poems, a favourite of my mother’s and the result is ‘Olive’s Table’.
Winter.
The living foundation of us all. The underlying heart, which continues to beat out it’s rhythm when all seems lost.
The joyful, which in another season’s time would raise a smile, is met by the hard gaze of frozen ground that no nourishment or distraction can melt. The beauty of the brown barren land is lost to us as we seek in vain the colour and warmth from a distant time.
Dormant.
We long to move on, to leave behind the chilling air which engulfs as fog and cloys our every thought. We plough our way through the detritus at our feet, heavy with sodden tears. And wearily we sigh as all we turn over is bleakness. This internal airing of spinning thoughts, wringing them dry until they fall as fragile leaves at our feet, serves to relieve the burden we heavily bear.
Lost.
Temporarily in the lightness of an empty mind, unsure and wary of the way forward, impatiently we scuff the ground with our feet. And there we catch a glimpse among the array of wintry browns, a tiny shoot of brightest green, tender, vulnerable and yet poised to unfurl. A symbol of our inner desire conscious or not as it begins to once more stir, the manifestation of a living, hidden current which runs through.
Patience.
When all you see is fog across the land, or dust settled on a lost love’s rose, smile and be sure for the light is yet to be revealed.
Painting ‘Reflections Unfurled’ by Rebecca Pells
https://www.artfinder.com/product/reflections-unfurled/
Yesterday I rose before daybreak to return home to Shropshire from Dorset in the UK, where I had been staying for a few days to attend my 92 year old father’s funeral. The usual four hour journey became six due to fog, intense wind and rain and flooded roads.
Weather and thoughts seemed to merge and reflect each other’s mood with each slow mile I travelled. At times I could not see my way forward but neither could I return.
♦
Reluctant to rise this December morn
at once willing, wanting to be gone.
But to leave him behind yet I am torn.
Out into the light not yet born
for it holds still death’s time done.
♦
Hours are long, the road is short
veiled as I too by dense dark haze.
The wheels turn as my mind too, wrought
with turmoil as child and I fought,
cradling the infant with gentle gaze.
♦
Refusing to be settled, the infant made cry
even as I soothed the adult joined child
“depart not my father, you cannot die.
Leave us not with questions why”
in unison now with sentiment wild.
♦
“You cannot leave, not yet, now not.”
The question hung, then tore the fog apart –
“did you love us or did you not?”
The infant lay back in rocking cot
once more quiet, carried in my heart.
♦
In recognition of National Poetry Day, I’m re-posting a poem I wrote last December. Sadly it is as relevant today as it was then.
—
North. East. West. South.
Instant. Happening. Plus one and real time,
Parallel worlds and lives which don’t chime.
Twenty four seven, channels to choose
Inward we turn, money to loose.
Pools of champagne, pools of blood,
Encroaching. Unwanted. Drought and flood.
◊
Which world is mine in parallel time?
◊
Reality TV talent to spot,
TV for real – someone is shot.
Christmas delivered, targets to meet,
Harvest failed, kids in bare feet.
Toy penguins emote season’s first frost,
Polar melt – the arctic is lost.
◊
Which life is mine in parallel time?
◊
Big Brother House. Ok! Hello!
Charnel house, Sierra, Aleppo.
White House secrets outed old lies,
Foggy Jungle King, Malala Peace Prize.
No arms, no legs, no head to crown,
Bloody Sunday; Cyber Monday death in town.
◊
Which conflict is mine in parallel time?
◊
North. East. South. West.
Lives of celebrities to whom we aspire,
Suicide bombers few can admire.
Knives quick to draw, turkeys to carve,
Minors in designers . . . others will starve.
Action man sold out. Tragedy! Child cries.
Boy soldier shot. Tragedy. Stumbles and dies.
◊
The choice is mine in parallel time.
RHYMES&REASONS 