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Category Archives: Peace

Lemn Sissay

The wonderful Lemn Sissay has given me permission to share his poem with you.

Let there be peace
Let tears evaporate to form clouds, cleanse themselves
And fall into reservoirs of drinking water.
Let harsh memories burst into fireworks that melt
In the dark pupils of a child’s eyes
And disappear like shoals of silver darting fish,
And let the waves reach the shore with a
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Listening to him on Radio 4 recently, I learned that one of the songs we sing at choir is one of his morning poems. I’ll try to get a recording soon.

 

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Happiness, Sadness and Singing

I love this expression – it’s me to a T!

I find my self struggling to find the beauty today, sadness is overwhelming me. This poem expresses it well…….

Singing always makes me feel better.

 
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Posted by on October 13, 2023 in Peace, poetry, Postaday 2023, Uncategorized

 

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Gaia

The Gaia exhibition has come to Truro Cathedral and it is utterly beautiful. Both of us were moved by the enormous planet hanging in the air and slowly rotating. The wonderful exhibit is 7 m in diameter and features detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface.
Astronauts who have seen Earth from Space “experience a feeling  of awe, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.”
We experienced a great sense of awe too, were both moved by the sight and echoed the sense of renewed responsibility for taking care of the environment.
In Greek mythology, Gaia is the personification of the Earth.

For any dear readers who are in Cornwall, do visit. It is wonderful and we are very lucky to be among the  places where Gaia is visiting,
More October blooms to come……..

 

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Beach, Selfie and Pins

Such a beautiful day with bright sun and the bluest of skies so we went to the beach and one of our Hooligan friends came with us.

Toddler in wellies in the waves, Porthtowan, Wheal Coates on the cliffs

Us three

One of our young Hooligan Art Community friends has been back to Kyiv in between her visits here and she brought us all gifts of pins. Mine means Freedom and Will and joins my Ukrainian flag on my bag. The lovely Mr S has the military roadblock being used to stop Russian tanks and Sue-next-door has the word for bread (palianytsia) , a word that Russians can’t say so it is used to establish nationality.

 

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Armistice Day, Knitting, Crochet and White Poppies

Many craftivists have been busy making items to mark Armistice Day. Along our street there is a new post box topper.

In a nearby village, Carnon Downs, there is the most amazing display. It has, in the Main Street, purple poppies to mark the animals lost in war, traditional red poppies to mark the fallen soldiers and a few white ones.

We wear white poppies. They are to mark all those lost to war, past and ongoing, those who were fighting and the civilians caught up in war. Benjamin Zephaniah explains it beautifully.

 

 

In a garden nearby

 

 

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Singing, Beach and Sculpture

LiveWire 3 joined us singing this morning and it was a brilliant session. It was raining and the tide was going out…….

Later we met the rest of the family at Porthtowan for lunch at the Blue Bar and a walk on the beach.

LiveWire 3 (11) spent time in the garden creating some natural sculptures in the style of Andy Goldsworthy.

The one on the left represents Fire, the middle one Peace and the third Freedom. What a thoughtful and creative young woman she is.

 

Glass Work, Golden Leaves and A Poem

I’ve been working on glass all day as it is time for angels to be made. I’m using blue and yellow glass and making Angels for Ukraine. I’ve cut six, filed and cleaned all six, foiled just one and begun to choose the recycled, often given to me by friends, bits of jewellery to decorate them.

A walk on the beach by the sea, on an earring given to me by C.

With recycled beads looking like a sunflower

Beautiful autumnal colours are appearing in the trees.

I found this poem today and it seemed right, being about singing and for peace.

Songs for the People 

Let me make the songs for the people,
   Songs for the old and young;
Songs to stir like a battle-cry
   Wherever they are sung.
Not for the clashing of sabres,
   For carnage nor for strife;
But songs to thrill the hearts of men
   With more abundant life.
Let me make the songs for the weary,
   Amid life’s fever and fret,
Till hearts shall relax their tension,
   And careworn brows forget.
Let me sing for little children,
   Before their footsteps stray,
Sweet anthems of love and duty,
   To float o’er life’s highway.
I would sing for the poor and aged,
   When shadows dim their sight;
Of the bright and restful mansions,
   Where there shall be no night.
Our world, so worn and weary,
   Needs music, pure and strong,
To hush the jangle and discords
   Of sorrow, pain, and wrong.
Music to soothe all its sorrow,
   Till war and crime shall cease; 
And the hearts of men grown tender
   Girdle the world with peace.
Apologies to the poet -This poem is in 4 line stanzas and my draft shows the poem in that shape. Somehow, when published it changes shape.
 

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Goodbye, Last Sunflower and A Song

Photo by Danylo, thank you!

Unloading all the luggage from the truck ready to catch the train

Our last Sunflower brought in from the garden

My choir sang ‘Love Will Carry Me’ and I put it here for our  Ukrainian friends, their families, their friends and their country.

It’s very quiet at our house tonight.  Bunker Cabaret will next be performed on October 14th at The Point in Eastleigh.

P.S. I up-dated yesterday’s post with some photos.

 

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A Poem

Some time ago I found this poem, “First Day of War” by Ludmila Khersonsky, that was published  in The New Yorker,   and it has come back into my head as we prepare to welcome some young Ukrainians into our home.  They are part of a theatre group who will be performing in Redruth at the end of next week. They are from Kyiv and need some rest and recuperation before they get into rehearsals and performances so we are going to show them some of the beauty of Cornwall and of our everyday lives.

 

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International Day of Peace and Peggy Seeger

September 21st is the United Nations Day of Peace. You can read more about its origins and this year’s theme here.

End racism

 

One of Peggy Seeger’s songs that I love is, “How I long for Peace.”  I sing it loudly in the car and feel every word deeply.

I wish for peace for all of you and those you love, my Dear Readers.

 
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Posted by on September 21, 2022 in music, Peace, photography, Postaday2022, singing

 

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