A POEM WRITTEN BY ZEHRA MUSTAFA AT 22 REMEMBERED 7 YEARS LATER ON THE NIGHT OF THE HONEY MOON
I was sitting here at my desk, window stretched open to its widest yawn, watching the trees on the horizon for the tiniest movement in the hope of the ghost of a breeze, but tonight, the night of the Honey Moon, there isn’t one. As I set about to get on with some work (that novel) the damnedest thing happened, I remembered a poem I wrote a long time ago. A pledge in a way, to write. I suppose my inability, be it a tired brain, shattered body but happy heart all owing to my sixteen month old, yes, sixteen
THE TRIP TO ECHO SPRING BY OLIVIA LAING
Literature | Review The Trip To Echo Spring by Olivia Laing If you loved Laing’s first book To The River, you shan’t be disappointed by her latest masterpiece which graced the shelves last year. To The River was hypnotic in nature whereas Echo Spring swallows you whole and pulls you along Laing’s journey into the lives of six of the greatest American writers that lived; Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Williams,
OH SPRING! SPRING-ISH
What a day! How dizzying and utterly uplifting the sun can be! Just its very prresence fed the spring in my step as the toddler & I took our morning jaunt. Her new understanding is “tree” with great excitement- we touch the tree and crane our necks upwards following its branches to the sky, to the most gorgeous blue sky, if only I could truly describe the excitement on her face, if only!
GREENWICH PENINSULA ECOLOGY PARK, SPIDERS & SWINGS
Last weekend the promise of fine weather had us dashing out of the house in haste! I’m sure we weren’t the only ones! Each time the sun puts his hat on, I hear myself saying ‘this could be the last day of summer’ even though summer waved goodbye ages ago and autumn rolled on in. After checking a list of places I desire to go to on my phone which I have high hopes of being 100% baby friendly ; they must allow my little one to walk freely as that is what she loves to do these days, that
OCTOBER CAME A-KNOCKING
October has a funny way of suddenly happening, I think I say that each year. Yesterday as the baby and I took a walk in the grey half-light of autumn (she slept in the carrier) I spied fallen conkers and watched squirrels chase each other through piles of leaves upon the ground then up and away into the trees which are becoming bare and therefore altering the light upon the landscape, as the light now has wide gaps to pass through. The day begins to yawn and say goodnight at 6 in the evening, pushing our clocks
THE BABY’S DAY OUT
It’s in the title, the little one insists on me leaving the house, she does not care for a writer’s solitary lifestyle of which I’ve been accustomed to. My misanthropic endeavours have been thwarted by this cute, friendly eager being who smiles at every stranger, beguiling them with her enchanting powers! I find myself talking to strangers (usually other mothers) more than ever and nodding to passengers on the bus as my baby decides to act out a loud, hysterical monologue (god I love her). This little being who can now pull herself up to stand, wishes to do so…all
Quote of the day
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” Epicurus This is too easily forgotten. Don’t you think?
A Conversation Whilst Walking in a Place That Could Have Been the Countryside
“It doesn’t feel like London” I sigh as we leave the train station after I’ve had a grumble on twitter over the lift not working at the station. Since having a buggy, I’ve obviously come across the injustice of an out of order lift, but my upset isn’t because I can’t use it but because I’ve become hyper aware of wheel chair users being unable to use it, it’s not like they can do what I do and lift their own wheelchair for god sake…. But anyway, back to my conversation with the husband, where was I…oh yes, “It could
Two Words…
London Claustrophobia Yes, it’s that time of year again. The annual tightening of the chest & constriction of the airways. That lurking pain that threatens to break through my chest, that prickly creeping feeling that climbs up the spine & brings on such a headache that no medication can touch. I’ve written about it so often and usually a hop onto the train & stint in the country fixes this ailment. It’s not just the loud neighbours that smoke all hours of the day, creating a small cloud of fumes in our very own home or the neighbour who insists
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Review The Round House by Louise Erdrich Erdrich’s writing often reflects the lives of Native Americans and The Round House is of no exception. In the very familiar Stand By Me vein- the film version of course which I like many others obsessively watched as a child and young teenager, focuses on one summer; a group of friends and their entry into adulthood due to one defining incident. The Round House is a beautiful, harrowing, coming of age novel set on a South Dakotareservation where thirteen year old Joe’s mother is brutally raped. He takes it into his own
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