curly leaf parsley

curly leaf parsley
after the first straight-edged leaves
the frill of the third

caravan with a view

swans on ice

early

I woke up so early today, was it the light? the lack of thunder? the newly harvested, and new to me, aloe vera gel that I smeared on my hands yesterday from one of my many aloe plants. typing now i can see the sunrise colours reflected in soft pastel cream pinks and blue in the west - reflection sunrises can be the best... living backwards!

cabbage fame

My little cabbage poem is going further, not only has it been read, on a cabbage, in Manchester and Malvern to rave reviews, http://stirredpoetry.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/stirred-relaunch-rocket/, and featured on www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk/blogs/?c=edible-poetry, but now it is going to North Carolina to Piedmont Community College where as we speak Ginger Ferrell is painting it into a picture for her community class. Here is some of her previous work: http://www.theglassprize.co.uk/ginger-ferrell-p-806.html.

Where will the cabbage roll to next?
And what is it about cabbages that has this effect? Is it the glow?

Anyway I think the poem deserves a space on this blog as well

                     taken apart, the cabbage

                     becomes all heart

                     and leaves

digging and polishing

writing with novelist in house for the week (what a great idea), she is steeping herself deep in an ancient world reading revising writing polishing as I tunnel through my poem drafts, punctuated by teas, coffees, cafe visits and a trip to tadpole tarn, while workmen dig up my messy tarmacked path to create a smooth flagstone walkway - days of busyness

Reading Vegetables

Fantastic night at Stirred's new venue in the wonderful Three Minute Theatre in Manchester. I decided to use my spot to experiment with poems written on vegetables ('on' as in physically 'on'). I thought the cabbage worked particularly well as it involved peeling back the leaves to read each word.

I had a really interesting discussion with an artist, who was painting each open mic participant as they performed, on how to write / paint my carrot poem with it being reabsorbed into the carrot.  He suggested I wear vegetable jewellery as well, and even drew me sketch of how it should look - still thinking about that one.