84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Literature │ The Ghosts of London84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff “London, happily, is becoming full of great men’s houses, bought for the nation and preserved entire with the chairs they sat on and the cups they drank from, their umbrellas and their chests of drawers…it is no frivolous curiosity that sends us to Dickens house and Johnson’s house and Carlyle’s house and Keats’s house. We know from their houses- it would seem to be a fact that writers stamp themselves upon their possessions more indelibly than other people.” The London Scene: “Great Men’s Houses” by Virginia Woolf. What
poetry to fight with
A poem for strength- a great source to draw from- use it. Piss Factory by Patti Smith Sixteen and time to pay off I got this job in a piss factory inspecting pipe Forty hours thirty-six dollars a week But it’s a paycheck, Jack. It’s so hot in here, hot like Sahara You could faint in the heat But these bitches are just too lame to understand Too goddamned grateful to get this job To know they’re getting screwed up the ass All these women they got no teeth or gum or cranium And the way they suck hot sausage
Like Bees to Honey by Caroline Smailes
Literature │Letting Go Like Bees to Honey by Caroline Smailes (published in “avrupa” newspaper) What is a home? And where is it? For some, home is where one grew up, from where their blood runs, for others it is something they carry in their hearts, a place where they’re loved one resides. The concept of home in Smailes’ Like Bees to Honey is paramount to the novel’s protagonist, Nina, in laying her past to which belongs to Malta, to rest and learn how to move on. This is a tale of strength; what it means to have a family, how
The Real Van Gogh; The Artist and His Letters- at the Royal Academy of Arts
For the entire summer, my sister and I harped on about how we had to see the Vincent Van Gogh exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, and finally on Saturday, the second to last day of this fantastic exhibition, we managed to get our wits about us and joined the queue to see his work and letters. The rooms were packed with elbows and hot bustling bodies as we wedged our way into the gaps between people, we were thankful for being small. Grabbing my sister’s bag I held onto her as she dragged me more carelessly then I
Lewes to Plumpton
When the weather is beautiful and my mind needs clearing for the work in hand, there is nothing like taking one’s self to the countryside which is what Mr Cranmer and I did yesterday. We made our way to Lewes, Sussex to walk along the South Down’s way. We know the town quite well now as we’ve been a few times, it’s somewhere I like to go to feel closer to the steps of Virginia Woolf. The land, rolling hills and hidden tracks offer the mind to wonder beyond the body. As you push your legs, your body
Cyprus- Part Two
Cyprus│ Freedom to LearnPart Two (published in “Avrupa” newspaper) From a young age, I recall my father telling my sister & I, all my friends and their parents and any other human that we made contact with, that all you had to do was kick your foot in the sand and you would unearth a piece of pottery. He was right. The island’s rich history awaits man on all levels, weather it is in glass case holding Ajax’s horse, or the Castle walls of Famagusta designed by Leonardo da Vinci where Othello’s tower can be found, wherever one looked, history
Cyprus – PART ONE
Cyprus│ Land: ReturningPart One (published in ‘Avrupa’ newspaper) Love hath an island,And I would be there;Love hath an IslandAnd nurtureth thereFor men the Delights The beguilers of careCyprus, Love’s island;And I would be thereAt Paphos she dwelleth,And I would be there.At Paphos she dwelleth,And wealth cometh there.Afloat with the kissesThat Ocean doth bearFrom the hundred streams Like a shower unfurledOf the Rainless RiverBorn out of the world;There are the hil-sidesOn earth most fair,Pierian hill-sides,And melody there,The voice of the Nine,Is borne on the airOver the hill-sides,For Heaven is thereWith spirits divineAnd shining of fire;And there are the Graces,And there is
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
Literature │ “Betrayal can only happen if you love.” By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart (published in “Avrupa” newspaper) If there has ever been a book which has split me in two, and sent me spinning haphazardly in those opposing poles, it is most certainly Smart’s By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept (1945) which I will refer to as BGCS, for no reader will forgive me for filling up this column with the lengthy title. Smart (1913-1986) was a Canadian poet and novelist who had an infamous affair with the writer
All Passions Spent BY VITA SACKVILLE-WEST
Literature │Too Old Does Not Mean Too Late All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville -West (published in Avrupa newspaper) “Of course she would not question the wisdom of any arrangements they might choose to make. Mother had no will of her own; all her life long, gracious and gentle, she had been wholly submissive- an appendage. It was assumed that she had not enough brain to be self-assertive.” This is the fate of 88year old widowed Lady Slane as her life lies in the hands of her six children, or as Sackville puts it “old, black ravens.” All Passion Spent
Kew Gardens
Peter and I paid a visit to Kew Gardens a couple of weeks ago, and although the daffodils hadn’t opened yet, there was an abundance of beautiful Snow Drops. The greenhouses/conservatories were beautiful, hot and brimming with life, and the grounds a delight to walk across. I bought the pretty green plant pot from the gift shop and placed my orchid into it… I brought a little part of Kew home with me. The photo in the background is of my father in the 70’s I like to keep it in front of me while writing, I find it inspiring.
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