Here I am crawling out of the jet-lag tunnel. The birds start early, intense and right on time for me. I had almost forgotten how ferocious the wind is in this city. Almost. And the lovely squeaky noise at the pedestrian crossings.
Then there`s the light and the strong coffee and the steep stairs and pathways up to my daughter's house. Awakening dormant muscles and taste buds.
I am busy busy busy being here. So much to see and do and feel and experience with my family.
Don't think I'll blog much in the coming weeks but I will read and if time allows, comment. For now, I just want to share this:
So hold your own
Breathe deep on a freezing beach
Taste the salt of friendship
Notice the movement of a stranger
Hold your own
And let it be
Catching
18 comments:
Enjoy your stay! That crossing sounds like a bird, maybe a woodpecker?
It is a joy to know you and R are with your Wellington family in the coming weeks.
We are smarter than they think we are
They take us all for idiots
But that's their problem
When we behave like idiots
It becomes our problem
So hold your own
Breathe deep on a freezing beach
Taste the salt of friendship
Notice the movement of a stranger
Hold your own
And let it be
Catching
Yes indeed.
You sound so good! May it be so.
Enjoy your visit, obviously you are. Quite a long journey from Germany.
Enjoy every moment with your beautiful family, Sabine. Thank you for this audio poem. Truly loved listening to it. Take care, stay well.
I'm glad you're there and visiting with your daughter and her family. And thank you for the poem because it reminds me that I'm not alone in suffering, that really, none of us are alone in our suffering because all humans suffer at some time, in some way.
It sounds like you have a daughter far away. I moved far away from my parents, my son moved not as far, just 2000+ km. I find it invigorating to visit, like you express here. but too darn far! to be away from each other.
Thank you so much for this, i saw Kae when they still had a fem pronoun and a "T" in the name, Stumbled upon her on accident in Kennington one night - she blew me away, the poetry of urchin angel- south London grit, marvelous, i wept. Time slid by and i forgot how much she stirred the elements of the heart. My lord, such a poet! Have a grand time where ever you are. Stay well.
Have a wonderful time with your family!
I hope you have a restful, lovely time!
An introduction to Kae for me. THanks you. So very stirring. I'll listen again and again and do some added searching. Enjoy your holiday. You sound buoyant! Kim in PA (USA) long time reader, infrequent commenter but always appreciate you and your wisdom and honesty
Not sure about the windiest NZ city but I'm pretty sure about the coldest, that's Dunedin, 791 km nearer the South Pole.
Fascinating British accent from the poet, as if an earlier accent had been suppressed. But not entirely, as glottal stops became more prevalent towards the end. I see I'm not alone on this matter. The poem got lost in my linguistic curiosity, I'll need to listen again.
A guess at where you are...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldous_Harding
Almost, she is from the South Island, I am currently watching out over Wellington Harbour, on the bottom of the North Island. The wind is fierce, the roaring forties of the Southern Hemisphere.
Wellington is officially the windiest city in the world. It's all about air currents from the equator to the south pole with little landmass etc.
While in Dunedin you simply look for indoors shelter. Shivering down to my socks I walked into an NZ government building called Archives and received a stern and well detailed lecture about the efficacy of the Records Office at Kew. Imagine my shame given that said office is about 12 miles south-west of London (that's in the UK) and - even worse - only about three miles north of Kingston-upon-Thames where I'd been been resident for over a decade. On the other hand it proved my willingness to travel 12,000 miles just to get an education. Years later I was to appoint a British deputy editor who had spent a year in Lyon for part of his university education, Lyon being 935.2 km south of London where the mag was based. So what I learned in NZ must have stuck.
Hope your trip is going great! Love spending time with my mom. Would love sheep shearing in NZ someday- i hear there are a few. Say hi to any you see for me!
This post was a gut punch. I love K. Tempest.
Can't blame anyone opting out of womanhood, but can't help feeling sad losing another brilliant, strong woman to the m3ns, either. (Sorry not a popular take. The gender non-conforming stuff hits pretty close for me.) Thank you for posting. <3 Here's to Kae finding peace and feeling at home in her own body, whatever, however it be.
For some reason I have not been seeing your posts. I hope you are having a wonderful time with your family. Cheers, and best wishes for 2023.
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