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Tag Archives: Bill Mitchell

Stained Glass, James Fenton and A Gift of Flowers

We have a pretty little panel of stained glass that hangs in the kitchen window. This morning, before the blind was lifted, the early sun was shining through and lighting up the engine house.

There’s food for thought in this poem, The Ideal by James Fenton and I like it.

This is where I came from.
I passed this way.
This should not be shameful
or hard to say.

A self is a self.
It is not a screen.
A person should respect
what he has been.

This is my past
which I shall not discard.
This is the ideal.
This is hard.

Our lovely neighbour Sue came in for supper tonight and shared a photo of some remarkably beautiful flowers sent to her from Heligan in condolence and in the memory of her very special husband, Bill, who died recently and for whom I posted on 14th April.

Sue’s flowers from the staff at The Lost Gardens of Heligan

3 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on April 26, 2017 in art, Beauty, friendship, glass, Kindness, Photography, poetry, postaday2017

Tags: Bill Mitchell, ranunculas, The Lost Gardens of Heligan

So Many Different Lengths Of Time – Poem by Brian Patten

14 Apr

So Many Different Lengths Of Time – Poem by Brian Patten

How long does a man live after all?
A thousand days or only one?
One week or a few centuries?
How long does a man spend living or dying
and what do we mean when we say gone forever?

Adrift in such preoccupations, we seek clarification.
We can go to the philosophers
but they will weary of our questions.
We can go to the priests and rabbis
but they might be busy with administrations.

So, how long does a man live after all?
And how much does he live while he lives?
We fret and ask so many questions –
then when it comes to us
the answer is so simple after all.

A man lives for as long as we carry him inside us,
for as long as we carry the harvest of his dreams,
for as long as we ourselves live,
holding memories in common, a man lives.

His lover will carry his man’s scent, his touch:
his children will carry the weight of his love.
One friend will carry his arguments,
another will hum his favourite tunes,
another will still share his terrors.

And the days will pass with baffled faces,
then the weeks, then the months,
then there will be a day when no question is asked,
and the knots of grief will loosen in the stomach
and the puffed faces will calm.
And on that day he will not have ceased
but will have ceased to be separated by death.

How long does a man live after all?
A man lives so many different lengths of time.

For Bill Mitchell whom we all love.

We heard later in the evening that Bill had died peacefully with his beloved beside him. Go well, dear Bill, go well.

13 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on April 14, 2017 in poetry, postaday2017, Uncategorized, Wildworks

Tags: Bill Mitchell, Bill Mitchell artistic director

London Day 3, Canal Museum and Anticipation of Babel

10 May

Having a day out and won’t be home in time to post so…. in anticipation of Babel …….

Bill Mitchell, artistic director of Wildworks theatre company

A spectacular outdoor show created for a major London setting, BABEL is staged through a unique partnership between WildWorks and Battersea Arts Centre and will feature a cast of up to 300.

More tomorrow.