For the first session of the new course Adrienne introduced her Breath practice with the poem "Next Time" by Mary Oliver.Bev then took a writing prompt from David Whyte's poem "Everything is waiting for you"
the kettle is singing
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And now for some of
YOUR WRITING:
inspired by Mary Oliver’s Next Time and David Whyte’s Everything is Waiting for you
by Kay Ritchie
at 17 / 18 / 19
I’d a friend
she was ‘my best’ &
we were wild and cunning when together
but she never looked you in the eye
my mother thought that sly
though I was unconcerned
she spoke directly to my shoulder
by 21 we’d drifted
like two feathers on the wind
but once more
after more than 50 years
we’re friends again
as if we’d both been waiting &
now she looks directly in my eyes
she’s wise
her life has not been easy
but we’re wild
not like before
instead we clatter cooking pots and kettles &
we walk
in nature
listen to the birds the water and the wind &
soar like feathers blown together
once more friends &
in the moment
Songs in Time
by Lisa Rossetti © 2023
I have not heard the mermaids sing for many years,
the wild beating of the surf frothing on the shore,
the crunch of sand, its roughness on bare pale soles.
No, I have not heard the mutterings of old frayed rooks
peering from trees, for many years. Nor the grumbling of bees,
their sleep disturbed within the golden palaces of their hives.
For many years, I haven’t heard the nick, nick, nick of insects
boring their mysterious tunnels through wood. Or books.
Nor seen the ants building castles in red sand.
Time has gone by.
Time has gone by.
Yet every morning I hear the kettle sing,
as I prepare our coffee, and bring it on a tray
An offering to bless our love.
Carrying mugs with tenderness and determination,
with humility towards the awesome day.
A ritual, a practice, a routine in service of Love.
We mark our days with mugs of coffee.
The kettle sings like a priest, like a priestess,
beginning the ceremony.
I hear you sing.
I hear you sing.
The kettle is singing
by Antje Bothin
This lovely music pleases my ears. I can feel the tea already on my
tongue. The water is ready, the air smells of moisture, a silver chain
of steam is crawling through the air. My eyes enjoy this picture of
comfort. Soon I can sit down on the sofa and relax.
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Thanks to you all ...
... for your heartening feedback as always!
Angie: thank you.
Kay: thankyou Adrienne so good to be back your talk / walk made me think of jon kabat zinn's coming to our senses x
Bev: The kettle is singing
Giovanna: Caroline - “stop, just for this moment” “for that is enough”
Giovanna: Fenella - “the warmth of communal tea drinking”
Hilaire: ‘A window out of aloneness’
Moira: love the line the warmth of communal tea drinking
Giovanna: Zoe - “the lifting wallpaper like a letter recently opened” (sorry paraphrasing)
Karen: Beautifully read, beautiful words x
Giovanna: Pauline - oh that first line. this was so intimate and beautiful.
Hilaire: Beautiful Pauline
Pauline: Thank you
Giovanna: Doreen - “lids fly and clang, they soar into the sky”
Zoë: aal I wanted was a cup of tea - love it
Zoë: *all
Lisa: hot water bottle missed the kettle! Awww …
Giovanna: Angie - “the kettle, my coffee enabler”!
Moira: Brilliant Angie - loving a yellow kettle
Zoë: 42:)
Lisa: Haha
Giovanna: Sheila - “life’s breath in steam” “listen to the chorus as life lifts its voice”
Giovanna: Lisa - wonderful first line. “the nick nick nick of insects”
Zoë: Gorgeous!
Hilaire: Wonderful Lisa! Great details
Lisa: Thank you
Giovanna: Antje - “a silver chain of steam”
Moira: beautiful.. tea on my tongue
Antje: Thank you
Giovanna: Cath - such sharp pictures here of pain and empathy and hope
Karen: Wow, Cath. Wow! X
Giovanna: Linda - “old kettle boot black… my how she sings”
Lisa: I always put “With thanks to … [author]”
Giovanna: April-Wendy - “an unrequested sauna steam room”
Lisa: “curve of submission” … “folding in on my own possibilities” … Oh my goodness!
Pauline: wow
Lisa: “stand up … not down” - Wow!
Giovanna: Hilaire - “the trees slowly dripping, longing for this year’s leaves”
Giovanna: Ann - “come now, come now, now! now!” “steam silently sizzles”
Lisa: “drifted like two feathers in the wind”
Giovanna: Kay - “we were wild and cunning when together” “now we clatter cooking pots and kettles and we walk”
Lisa: a happy story
Hilaire: Wow - so touching L
Hilaire: Kay
Pauline: Was a little nervous but have had the best Saturday morning in ages .So thanks everyone
Zoë: Loved my first session, looking forward to the next one:)
Ann: I need to go to a photography group at 12 so leaving before final Mindfulness. Nice to see everyone (I would have liked to hear a bit of brief Intro so know bit more about you all). I enjoyed listening to others' writing. Thanks. 😀
Lisa: I really enjoyed using mindfulness and the Date Doodle was wonderful! I haven’t doodled for many many months. Thank you for kind comments, support and being welcomed to the group.
Kay: what a really beautiful session so many wonderful pieces and words and memories thankyou kx
Hilaire: Thanks so much Bev & Adrienne - a very precious two hours
Giovanna: Jan 31st, would be lovely to see you. https://flightofthedragonfly.com/next-dragonflies/
Karen: Lovely to share your company. And a cup of tea 💖
Jennifer Bradley: Thanks so much. Inspiring and heart-warming session.
Antje: Thank you so much Adrienne, Bev and everyone. I really enjoyed the mindfulness and the writing and listening to all the lovely pieces. 🙂
Denise: What I took to be pain is fear… Giovanna. Such insight in that poem, and a good measure maybe of common humanity!
Giovanna: Thank you Denise
Denise: Warm memories of drying socks - Pauline, brilliant.
Ann: Will keep thinking of yours & my parents & gran making tea in the kitchen I grew up or stayed in. Thanks, Pauline.
Denise: Thank you everyone.
Giovanna: Such a wonderful morning, enormous thanks to Adrienne, Bev and everyone for sharing this fantastically creative space.
Moira: thanks
Thanks to funders
Lapidus Scotland gratefully acknowledges the support of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership's "Wellbeing for Longer in Glasgow Fund" (managed by Impact Funding Partners).
