Jan 2019
WALKING AWAY
I lock my door upon myself,
And bar them out; but who shall wall
Self from myself, most loathed of all?
Who Shall Deliver Me? - Christina Rossetti
I wander through
the landscape
of my so called self
my life left upon a shelf.
The world locked out
my self locked in.
How do I begin
to construct a human being
from this nothingness
I am.
Only my name remains
the same.
My baby throws
her rattle from the pram
talks to me in a language
I can not understand.
"ma...Ma. . .MA
MAM!"
I know how she feels
I too want my Mam.
I clutch my child
tightly 'til she squeals
laughs...then..wails
screams.
I tell myself my name
to convince me who I am.
Pirandello falls upon the ground
the wind speed reading its pages.
A dog wants me
to throw a stick.
I give it a kick.
Walk away.
The baby's crying
getting farther
and farther
away.
I lock my door upon myself,
And bar them out; but who shall wall
Self from myself, most loathed of all?
Who Shall Deliver Me? - Christina Rossetti
I wander through
the landscape
of my so called self
my life left upon a shelf.
The world locked out
my self locked in.
How do I begin
to construct a human being
from this nothingness
I am.
Only my name remains
the same.
My baby throws
her rattle from the pram
talks to me in a language
I can not understand.
"ma...Ma. . .MA
MAM!"
I know how she feels
I too want my Mam.
I clutch my child
tightly 'til she squeals
laughs...then..wails
screams.
I tell myself my name
to convince me who I am.
Pirandello falls upon the ground
the wind speed reading its pages.
A dog wants me
to throw a stick.
I give it a kick.
Walk away.
The baby's crying
getting farther
and farther
away.
Who Shall Deliver Me?
God strengthen me to bear myself;
That heaviest weight of all to bear,
Inalienable weight of care.
All others are outside myself;
I lock my door and bar them out,
The turmoil, tedium, gad-about.
I lock my door upon myself,
And bar them out; but who shall wall
Self from myself, most loathed of all?
If I could once lay down myself,
And start self-purged upon the race
That all must run! Death runs apace.
If I could set aside myself,
And start with lightened heart upon
The road by all men overgone!
God harden me against myself,
This coward with pathetic voice
Who craves for ease, and rest, and joys:
Myself, arch-traitor to myself;
My hollowest friend, my deadliest foe,
My clog whatever road I go.
Yet One there is can curb myself,
Can roll the strangling load from me,
Break off the yoke and set me free.
—Christina Rossetti
***
Engaging and entertaining with enthusiastic jumping off points from Rossetti's life and texts that transported us from poem to poem and finally into a poem of our own. A totally enjoyable experience with Tamar encouraging us to see Rossetti in a new light & as a catalyst for us.
The workshop was wonderful...rich in writing and ideas as Tamar lead us through the Rossetti mind and times. Thoroughly enjoyed Tamar's teaching as she got us to press our own buttons and lead us into words that wanted to be poems. Indeed the poems that came up were powerful and of such a high standard. It was a great delight to see them come into being..I was so impressed by the level achieved. The other people in the class were fantastic and their poems are still walking about in my head many hours later. Such a relaxed group with everyone eager to participate and make interesting and helpful comments and insights. The surroundings of course were wonderful just to be in. Tamar's deft and subtle teaching stitching us all together in a wonderful patchwork quilt of bright ideas.
And then there was of course the Christina Rossetti exhibition itself.
Watts Gallery - Artists' Village casts its magic spell on all who come there and used it as a creative space.
This was my attempt at the day inspired by seeing the epigram writ large as one came into the exhibition.
God strengthen me to bear myself;
That heaviest weight of all to bear,
Inalienable weight of care.
All others are outside myself;
I lock my door and bar them out,
The turmoil, tedium, gad-about.
I lock my door upon myself,
And bar them out; but who shall wall
Self from myself, most loathed of all?
If I could once lay down myself,
And start self-purged upon the race
That all must run! Death runs apace.
If I could set aside myself,
And start with lightened heart upon
The road by all men overgone!
God harden me against myself,
This coward with pathetic voice
Who craves for ease, and rest, and joys:
Myself, arch-traitor to myself;
My hollowest friend, my deadliest foe,
My clog whatever road I go.
Yet One there is can curb myself,
Can roll the strangling load from me,
Break off the yoke and set me free.
—Christina Rossetti
***
Engaging and entertaining with enthusiastic jumping off points from Rossetti's life and texts that transported us from poem to poem and finally into a poem of our own. A totally enjoyable experience with Tamar encouraging us to see Rossetti in a new light & as a catalyst for us.
The workshop was wonderful...rich in writing and ideas as Tamar lead us through the Rossetti mind and times. Thoroughly enjoyed Tamar's teaching as she got us to press our own buttons and lead us into words that wanted to be poems. Indeed the poems that came up were powerful and of such a high standard. It was a great delight to see them come into being..I was so impressed by the level achieved. The other people in the class were fantastic and their poems are still walking about in my head many hours later. Such a relaxed group with everyone eager to participate and make interesting and helpful comments and insights. The surroundings of course were wonderful just to be in. Tamar's deft and subtle teaching stitching us all together in a wonderful patchwork quilt of bright ideas.
And then there was of course the Christina Rossetti exhibition itself.
Watts Gallery - Artists' Village casts its magic spell on all who come there and used it as a creative space.
This was my attempt at the day inspired by seeing the epigram writ large as one came into the exhibition.
