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Writings and Witterings


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LitFest Walk

English: The Malvern Hills (a designatated AON...

The Malvern Hills (a designated AONB) as viewed approaching the British Camp on Hereforshire Beacon (Iron Age earth works as seen on the left). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The first ever LitFest Walk on the archaic tracks of the Malvern Hills will take place Sunday 21 October 2012.

Come one—come all—and have fun, get fit, and support the Worcestershire Literary Festival!

Meet at The British Camp car park at 11am for a walk to savour.

This walk generally takes 1-2 hours but this is, of course, dependent on the individual and the number of stops to write 🙂

Join us for a mapped walk, good company, stories and poetry on the Malvern Hills—discover something of the heritage we so often take for granted—walk archaic tracks—see Clutter’s Cave—Hangman’s Hill—Swinyard Hill—The Ridgeway—ind out about local history and enjoy stunning views over Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

No charge for children. Adults £5 each. All proceeds support the Worcestershire Literary Festival.

Maybe you’re not a walker…don’t let that stop you, you could always come along at around 1 o’clock to enjoy the ambience of the pub / hotel and perhaps join in by reading some of your own work or listening to that of others.

Our thanks to The Malvern Hills Hotel for their support of this event.

English: The Malvern Hills Hotel The Malvern H...

The Malvern Hills Hotel The Malvern Hills Hotel is on the A449 below the British Camp. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


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Homage To Mondrian

With acknowledgement to: anthroposophie.net

Linking up with MeetingTheBar, hosted by Victoria over at dVerse —it’s all about balance…

Homage to Mondrian

Avant-garde minimalist, stunning,
Piet Mondrian made the running,
black, white, opposing pairs,
primary colours—oblongs, squares.
strict Dutch Calvinist, he did his duty,
yet used intuition for basic forms of beauty,
a Utopian ideal, of order, harmony, rhythm,
his paintings neat, neoplasticism,
pure abstract control freak,
his technique,
“…more or less Cubist
…more or less pictorial”
symmetry avoided. A memorial:
aesthetic balance through opposition,
driven to simplify, a man with a mission.

Polly Stretton © 2012

Nederlands: Anoniem. Piet Mondriaan. 1899. Den...

Nederlands: Anoniem. Piet Mondriaan. 1899. Den Haag, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


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Daughter Of The Sewer Rat

Brighton Sewer Tour

This poem is in response to K. McGee‘s blog about Ae Freslighe, a highly structured Irish poem format. It remains a challenge and I’ll continue to mull it over… fascinating form…

Daughter Of The Sewer Rat

Daughter urchin snivelling
in alleys dark and smelly
whining voice a’grizzling
with no food in her belly

Beneath the road, thundering
slow sewers, deep, dank, darkly
reach the child a’blundering
she stares at bleak walls starkly

Nightmare journey, quivering
trembling in waste water
cold with fright a’shivering
sewer rat’s own daughter

Polly Stretton © 2012


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Saturday Plinth In Worcester

Here is the promised update, I read Faerie Folk, Morning Town Ride, Silly Head Day, Beans for Tea and First Love at the Fourth Plinth in the Old Library in Worcester between 10:00 and 13:00.  Then, as we had finished early due to a couple of no shows, Suz asked if anyone had got anything else and I took the opportunity to read Time, Fire and War-thieves, I’ve never read it in public before—though all poetry is special, this one is extra-special to me.

It was a splendid morning with poetry and music from, in order of appearance:

Jenny Hope
Lissy Hope
Catherine Crosswell
Damon Lord
Holly Magill
William Shatspeare / Ryan / Abigail / Edward
Polly Stretton
Gary Longden
Sammy Joe
Math Jones
Suz Winspear
and Worcestershire Poet Laureate Maggie Doyle