Someone using Virgin media..

There is someone who uses Virgin as their IP who reads my blog. Once, they copied my whole blog, or downloaded it.

It seems you like to look at my recipes and cooking tips. As well as reading my other posts. I get my poetry revisited too.

Today was almost normal. To me, Christmas is twelve days, although since my daughter grew up it’s harder to celebrate that way.

I ate the last of the Christmas dinner. It tasted so good. I will do the same next year. When it warms up a little, I will roast some vegetables for a soup, and put the remainder in the fridge with some spices.

Next year I want to write more about the Climate Crisis and Black Lives Matter. I also want to write about the poverty in the UK. There are so many social issues that are important, but these three are my priority.

We are overwhelmed by Covid-19, ambulances and hospitals are under great pressure. The gov. is not doing the right thing. At least we have some governance, Trump wants to pretend it doesn’t exist. Around 12 000 Americans are dying everyday.

Poem published…

Christmas

Steely sky seeps soft snowflakes
gathering like a gown on green grass
untouched, virgin, bright white

Animal paw prints appear, pathway
across, birds beaks seek suet balls
birdsong greets our ears, joyful

Late sunrise darkens days, waking hard
early sunset evenings are warmed
by flickering flames of hearth fires

Church bells ring out to greet the morn
the day Christ was born, everyone celebrates
first day of longer light, day of my birth

Published by Poetry Bar

They forgot to let me know. I wrote it because my birthday is so lost in Christmas. I wish my parents had chosen a day in the summer to celebrate my birthday.

Another day…

Today has been sunny and cold. Yesterday we had torrential rain and gales. Tomorrow is a full moon.

In fourteen days time we will have two more minutes of light. That is why it was chosen to celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus. It is also my birthday, and since my family stopped returning to Germany for Christmas, I so disliked my birthday until I learned this fact.

That we get two more minutes of light on my birthday makes me feel so much better about a birthday that gets lost in the Christmas celebrations. In Germany, gifts are exchanged on the 24th so my birthday was separate.

I have identified the pain in my shoulder. When I type I rest my arm on cushion, and the pain is like a repetitive strain injury, but in my shoulder. Now that it’s getting better, I can feel the muscles in my shoulder moving. Fortunately, I now only use my laptop for emails, as it is still not working. Everything else I do is on my phone.

So I can reduce the amount of emailing I do, well not really, but I can make more phone calls in reply to emails, unless I want a record of what is said.

I had intended to go to support a friend who had entered a poetry slam competition, last night. The weather was so bad that I could not go without getting drenched. This morning I asked her how it went, and she said she felt it was a popularity competition, more than a slam competition. This is exactly what I had feared. And my friend doesn’t speak with glottal stops, or ain’t and bruvver. and other slang associated with it. I do enjoy slam poetry and know a few people who do it very well. I just tend to think one is good at one type of poetry or another. One day, though, I will write a slam poem just for the exercise. It’s good for writers to move out of their comfort zone. Hang on, writers don’t have comfort zones. We are on the outside looking in.

So, in this darkness of winter, while the sun sets in almost the exact place that it rises, I shall enjoy my sleep at night, and look forward to less pain in my shoulder.