27 seconds of Bunny poetry

I know poetry isn’t for everyone. Hell. To be honest I don’t even read or listen to poetry, but I do write it. I write it for me, to get my thoughts and feelings processed and organized in the hopes of containing and understanding them.

Alzheimer’s is an ugly cruel disease. There’s no logic or rhythm to it, and it affects each and every sufferer differently. So the way I deal with it’s changing face, and how it affects my mum and our family is to capture my thoughts in verse, and last year I released a collection of my poetry in a book called A Turbulent Mind, and this year I’m releasing each poem as an audio file, and next year it’s coming out in print.

I discovered Hilaire Belloc poetry as  a child, and he’s my stylistic muse. I can still recite all of his poem, Henry King. I love his play on words and how he switches their order around to make the lines rhyme. I marvel at the way he breaks up his sentences onto different lines, and most of all I admire his wit, sarcasm, and wry sense of humor.

I performed Henry King at a poetry recital competition when I was 10. It was the era of miners strikes and power cuts each night, in England. With no TV to entertain us, I’d perform my poetry to my family each night in a darkened candle-lit. Despite all of my rehearsals, I didn’t win the competition. Standing in an echo-ridden school stage with a spotlight on me is not my idea of fun and nerves strangled my voice. This is probably why I’ve enlisted somebody else to record these audio versions of each poem rather than doing it myself.

I hadn’t realized that I was channeling Hilaire Belloc’s poetic style, until I was putting my Collection together, and then it was instantly obvious I’d incorporated elements of his stylistic musings into my own.

Giggle Bunny

I love hearing my mum laugh. She was never much of a giggler when we were growing up. She was the serious parent, the one who organized our family. She wasn’t content to be a housewife, and juggled a job and two kids, and a really moody husband! So giggles were rare.

But nowadays she can erupt into giggles at the most unexpected moment. That tinkle of laughter is like a wind-chime hanging from my soul … long may the wind blow!

Listen with your eyes closed, or read along: A giggle bunny are you now. It happens more each week. You see the funny side of things that crinkles up your cheek. Did you save them from your past, to spend them now, hereafter? Really, I don’t give a damn! Just drench me with your laughter.

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