My poem ‘Close to the Sky’ is one I always enjoy performing, and I was thrilled when it was selected for publication in the online women’s journal Not Very Quiet. Read the poem in issue 5 here, or scroll down to watch the video. I first wrote the poem as a gift to my husband, recalling how we fell in love at the same time as his prognosis with chronic illness became dire.
I first wrote the poem as a gift to my husband, recalling how we fell in love at the same time as his prognosis with chronic illness became dire. The landscapes of our home in the Northern Rivers, and the sacred mountain Wollumbin where this conversation took place, wove their way into the poem. Issue 5 was called ‘Earth Poems’, and took as inspiration the woman who ignited the modern environmental movement, Rachel Carson. The editors said they “looked for strong, original, well-crafted poems that explore the connections women have with the earth, and the energy and joy that can come from these connections” (Tricia Dearborn).
This video was first published by The Bunker Spoken Word as part of their ‘Isolating in the Bunker’ series. Big shout out to these guys for continuing to support and pay artists while live events were suspended! Apologies for the kinda dodgy quality of this clip; in lockdown it was really about forging ahead with whatever you had – in this case, two iphones in the garage! Please check out the whole series from the Bunker: you’ll see some excellent work by Caroline Reid, Damien Becker, Kathy Parker and more.
Sarah Temporal 