poem

The Present – by Billy Collins

May 27, 2020 By Ellen Leave a Comment

The Present By Billy Collins Much has been said about being in the present. It’s the place to be, according to the gurus, like the latest club on the downtown scene, but no one, it seems, is able to give you directions. It doesn’t seem desirable or even possible to wake up every morning and […]

A poem – In a moment

April 16, 2020 By Ellen 2 Comments

First things first, nothing horrible has happened and everything is rather fine at the moment. I just wanted to see if I could catch the feelings in that moment when you hear some awful, life-changing news. When the tears won’t flow. This is the worst day of my life. The sharpest. Every second a pin-sharp, […]

Poem: Smile

March 10, 2020 By Ellen 1 Comment

Smile by Spoke Milligan Smiling is infectious You can catch it like the flu When someone smiled at me today I started smiling too I walked around the corner And someone saw me grin When he smiled I realised I had passed it on to him I thought about the smile And then realised its […]

The Journey by Mary Oliver

January 18, 2020 By Ellen 1 Comment

The Journey One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice— though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. “Mend my life!” each voice cried. But you didn’t stop. You knew what you had […]

On a journey south and a delightful deceit… things I’ve learned lately

February 17, 2019 By Ellen 1 Comment

Write a post every day, she said (to herself, cos no one else cares). Let’s see how that goes then! And here we are a week later, but it’s been a good – and educational week. Here are the things I learned. The long way round still gets you there… (Also known as, confusingly, only […]