To be healed is not to be saved from mortality, but rather, to be released back into it: we are returned to the wild, into possibilities for ageing and change. Healings2: Kathleen Jamie Of course it’s not over yet. There is no Covid ceasefire. No generals signing treaties, no monuments, anthems or operas commemorating the millions of lives lost. Or, not yet … [Read more...] about A kind of healing: poetry for endings and beginnings
Poetry
Doses of compassion from the doctor-poet
As a doctor and poet he was wary of the alleged therapeutic value of poetry. One year the slogan of National Poetry Day was ‘Transform your life with poetry’. Gael Turnbull would rather it had been ‘Transform your poetry with life’. Scottish Poetry LibraryThe poet Gael Turnbull was also a GP though he was said not to like doctoring very much (‘but it paid the bills’). He was … [Read more...] about Doses of compassion from the doctor-poet
On the threshold: songs and poems for a Covid-safe Christmas
It all went quiet and a vision appearedWith a rose in her hair and a ring in her earAnd she says "Buenos Dias boys, this looks like the place" Doors open. Lights sparkle, glasses clink, friends laugh, music plays, singers sing, dancers dance. Fear not, this Covid-safe celebration is all in the mind. Well, how else would Frida Kahlo arrive in the Tay Bridge Bar? Songs and … [Read more...] about On the threshold: songs and poems for a Covid-safe Christmas
Love and light: poetry and prose in the time of coronavirus
I still believe my eyescan hold a solar system, catch all the lightsIn so many ways, this year has been an eye opener. But how good to look outwards and upwards again with poets. The theme for #NationalPoetryDay 2020 is Vision and that encompasses a world of feeling. Confession. I’ve been finding it hard to see the light these last few weeks. In search of inspiration – … [Read more...] about Love and light: poetry and prose in the time of coronavirus
Willie Hunter 1940-2020
Willie Hunter was better known on the fitba’ pitch than in the field of poetry but he linked both in a way that made a contribution that helped those suffering from dementia. Brought up just a kick of the ball away from the Scottish Poetry Library in Beggs Buildings at Abbeyhill he used to practice headers with his pal in Holyrood Park. He would recall the hurt caused by … [Read more...] about Willie Hunter 1940-2020