Bella Isaacs

Bella Isaacs 4d

You can say all roads lead to Rome
And a few lead to Wytham
Yes, a few lead to Wytham
As quiet as it is, but roam
Your way, on your bus, on your car:
I only know one, I only want one
And it may be long to go so far
On so little, but I shan't be gone
Unless it be by foot or on a bicycle
Run past the ruins of Godstow, the road
A minefield in sweet quiet from the bridge, tickle
The Trout, press the hedges at the goad
Of yet another motor, on bike or foot
On bike or foot, that I may kiss the ground
In pilgrimage to memory and childhood
Before the shades in which we're lost, we're found.

Prompted by what Can Yücel is supposed to have said about soulmates and journeys. The destination and the journey matter.

#wytham #wythamwoods #oxford #oxforshire #countryside #countrypoetry

Bella Isaacs Feb 18

On giving freely

Came I hither with all the gold possess'd,
Came I hither with all the wisdom gain'd,
Came I hither with all the truth and jest,
Beauty, health, kindness, luck, thou'd'st have complain'd
That I came hither with an underhand
Desire of something greater thus exchang'd,
Unable to conceive or understand
How one who offers free is not derang'd.

Came I hither with all the gold possess'd,
And came I bearing rubies and pearls, too,
Came I hither bearing all the rest
To thine own mortal self, still erring true;
Came I hither, and ask'd nothing, giving
All that I have, and more, and still I err,
For the Lord ask'd nothing of the living,
But sacrifice is matter of a cur.

Mistrusting as you do, with sense, I see,
Love's made not for this world, nor I for thee.

#love #unrequitedlove #unconditionallove #giving #sacrifice #mistrust #disbelief #faith

Bella Isaacs Jan 13

Look you in the face

I went home today, straight after work
Because your curtains were closed
And although I didn't struggle with the quirk
Of thinking "But maybe..." (not really), hosed
Down with sobriety, I wondered at the darkness,
The loneliness, the determination (nose to grindstone,
Nose to grindstone), and with less than sharpness
I went home, nearly straight after work, and left you alone
And I left memories of another girl somewhere -
Possibly in your curtains - but you wouldn't care
To know that I no longer think, "I couldn't look him in the face" -
I now ask if I will be able to look at myself, in no one's place.

#newme #newyear #accountability

Bella Isaacs Jan 13

Frozen

The end of last year, and the beginning of this
Spell something like suspense, a familiar kiss
Upon both my frostbitten cheeks, Hello.
These are chaste waves now, at your window:
Barren is the land of my hand, I write nothing,
And I hope for nothing, still carrying
A foreign slogan by my heart for one
I dedicated my deeds to, who's gone
With my writing, since my girlhood arrived
And said she was here to stay, contrived
To do so until we thaw, until limbo
Passes over, until someone says, Hello,
And I answer. Because I don't want anything
Except, maybe, just not to want anything.

#newyear #loneliness #suspense #lowmood

Dec 2023

sandra wyllie

No, She'll Not

brush it aside,
like a strand of golden hair,
hanging as pleaded panel
curtains covering her

eyes. She'll face it head on,
square. She’ll not allow it
to sit, like dust coating the
furniture. She'll give it

a swift kick, let it fall
like a ton of bricks. She'll not
let it blow, like smoke from frying
steak in the pan in her kitchen,

out the window, in a black
colored band. She’ll not lock it
in the closet with all her
skeletons. She’ll mix it

up with the gelatin. Blood
orange and mint. Plate it
for dessert. Wash it down with
gin and tonic, all this hurt.

Bella Isaacs Dec 2023

I await a visa, and the world awaits the change we ourselves must give it

Too soon I realise the dreamlike nature
Of my steps on native soil
The horror of my nightmares a reality
For those in foreign lands
Where once, they said, a saviour was born;

And I sing about this time of year
When others sing of £1.20 wrapping paper
And candy-cane romance - dreams
Cost money, but hope costs kindness.

O Kyrie, Kyrie, Kyrie elei-elei-eleison
KYRIE ELEISON. Not on me, O Lord,
For my petty problems, as much as they
Seep into my sleep in panic
And place vices on my heart
- Mine are but the troubles of the Modern Man,
The one still responsible for ancient evil,
Who used Thy Son's words but when it suited Him,
The self-interested, but not self-examining, Man,
Who cuts down Thy trees
To pay tuppence
To the man working 16 hours a day
To make £1.20 wrapping paper -

And a sticker
To go on a document
That lets me fly
Where I choose.

#travel #crises #christmas #kindness

Bella Isaacs Jun 2023

Wanted

I put up an advertisement
"WANTED: A handsome man
To play the villain of the tale."
I was in earnest in this wail -
My play is falling as it can
Apart, in disestablishment.
I didn't think you'd laugh or like
My addition - "I don't need one
Personally." Well, I don't, no,
I don't need one, but if you'd show
A wish for consideration,
I'd love a hero on a fixed-gear bike.

I actually needed a strong actor to fill a role, but hopefully it's fixed now! Directing Arms and the Man for July :) My granddad directed the same play 70 years ago - The family tradition continues!

#theatre #single #romance #lovepoetry #socialmedia