Monday, December 02, 2002
What good poetry does
posted by John Davies at 7:17 PM
 God knows how I adore life
When the wind turns on the shore lies another day
I cannot ask for more
And when the timebell blows my heart
and I have scored another day
Well nobody made this war of mine These words open Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man - Out of Season which I bought from Probe today. Perfect mood music for impending winter, beautiful with it. (Beth does have her own website but it seems to be down at the moment).
I spent the morning with other poetry. As a member of the Iona Community's Publications committee I had a stack of papers awaiting me on return from Ireland, and I waded through them after breakfast. Waded - well, it's only my opinion but some of them seemed to lead into quicksand, I had a sinking feeling reading them.
However, most of them offered journeys through clear, refreshing waters. Particularly those supplied by Jan Sutch Pickard who has published a number of titles of an inspirational nature (including one of Advent Readings, with Brian Woodcock), and who at Corrymeela for the Ecumenical Spirituality weekend rustled up a wonderful prayer-poem in a free hour in the Croi (Corrymeela's special underground space, meaning 'heart'). When Jan read it to us later, a small part of me envied her achievement. But much more of me was grateful for it. That's what good poetry does.
|
john davies
 yellow on blue CAT.png)
