Category: Public

Poems about public events and figures, past and present.

  • Why space exploration has me gripped … 

    "... our beautiful world 
    feels anything but stable 
    thin are the spaces
    where reason can thrive 
    wide are the chasms 
    peacemakers must cross ..."

    Have you, like me, been captivated by the Artemis II mission?  I have a feeling that you’ll be in one of two camps: half the world have caught space-fever and the other half think it’s a complete waste of money, time and effort.  Space exploration is a bit like marmite: you either love or hate it.  Not many sit on the fence when it comes to space. 

    I’ll admit, I wasn’t always so enthusiastic.  The first time I visited Florida, I went to the Kennedy Space Centre, because my husband wanted to go. I’m not sure I would’ve gone unprompted.  I found it interesting, yes, but I wasn’t entirely won over; I held it at arms length.  As it turned out, our visit was somewhat cut short because we happened to be there in September 2001.  Half the exhibits were closed due to security concerns following 9/11.  That suited my attention span just fine.  

    My second visit was entirely different.  We went again in 2014, and spent the best part of the day seeing everything we could.  I was blown away by the size of the Saturn V rocket and the opportunity to stand closer to Space Shuttle Atlantis than I could ever have imagined.  I was awe-struck by the vision of the engineers, the bravery and skill of the astronauts and the technological advances that have benefitted us here on earth.  Did you know, for example, that laser surgery is just one of the medical advances that has the space programme to thank? 

    So, this week, I’ve been listening to updates about Artemis II with keen interest.  I’ve gasped at the photographs of earth and recall the photos taken during previous missions.  Back in the 1960’s, it must have been incredible to see an image of our entire earth for the first time.  Still, in the 21st century, it’s hard not to be moved by such a sight.  

    Image of the Milky Way stretched diagonally across the night sky

    I was only 3 years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.  I don’t remember it at all.  It was the same year that my brother was born and I don’t remember that either!  So much has happened in the world since 1969 and yet, at first glance, the photos sent back from Artemis II don’t look all that different from the ones taken by the Apollo astronauts.  But things do look and feel different in countless ways.  No doubt the ice caps and the coral reefs look smaller; the world population is larger; and we don’t appear to have learnt anything from history.  War, sadly, is alive and well. 

    This week’s poem is very hot off the press and is the result of my pondering about the current world situation.  The difference between my excitement at the space mission and my despair regarding the war in the Middle East could not be more pronounced.  Of course, I know it’s simplistic and naive, but am I the only one thinking, how come the human race can be so innovative and destructive at the same time?  This is just one of many questions.  I’m also wondering: How can humans demonstrate compassion towards one other and yet demonise one other at the same time?  How can we claim to care about preserving our planet and yet deny or minimise climate change?  

    It doesn’t make sense to me.  Of course, I know that I’m considering opposing ends of the spectrum here, and there’s a whole range of nuanced viewpoints in between  Nothing is ever straight forward and I can’t begin to truly understand what’s going on.  I can only know how it feels from where I’m standing.  The space programme makes me feel small, but in a good way; the situation in the Middle East makes me feel helpless, in a bad way.  Finding the middle ground between those two feelings is not easy but it’s what I’m grappling with right now.  And it feels important to keep trying to make sense of things.  To paraphrase JFK’s famous quote, it’s worth doing, not because it is easy, but because it is hard. 

    earthDownload

  • Who, what and where is your inner tiger? 

    "... in kitchens 
    throughout the land 
    women were in one camp
    or the other 
    to leave her children 
    or not to leave
    to be true to herself 
    or not be true 
    to choose 
    or not to choose ..."

    We’ve just celebrated International Women’s Day, or at least I have.  Do you celebrate this annually?  Why wouldn’t you is my question.  I’m happy to own the label of feminist and will welcome any opportunity to celebrate women; to make more space for women at any table; and to do whatever I can to support other women be they in front, behind, or beside me.  And don’t get me wrong, I’m no man-hater.  I am happy to support men on their journeys too if and when I can.  As a daughter, wife, aunt, cousin, and friend, I’m proud to acknowledge that there are some very fine men among us.

    I’ve been reading the fabulous collection of non-fiction by the late Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self.  One piece in particular has stayed with me, which recounted her unhappy experience of living in Saudi Arabia in the 1980’s (Last Morning in Al Hamra, 1987).  I feel sure that the stifled conditions under which women lived then has improved somewhat since those times, but probably not all that much.  For obvious reasons, the middle east has been on my mind a lot just recently.  In many other countries, such as Iran, Iraq and Syria, the lives women lead are very much dictated by men in power, and to my western eye, appear much smaller than they should be.  I’d be the first to admit that I’ve no authority on which to speak about this at all, other than my instinct; I accept of course that I can’t begin to know what their lives are like. 

    Female hiker stood on top of a snowy peak with her walking pole raised in her right hand.

    One woman’s life in the UK entered the national conversation in 1995 and I recount her story in this week’s poem. Alison Hargreaves, was a professional climber who, that year, had become the first ever woman to climb Everest without the aid of a sherpa or oxygen.  It was a remarkable achievement.  Three months later, she sadly died as she descended the summit of K2, where five other climbers also lost their lives.  She was also a wife and mother to two young children.  Everyone seemed to have an opinion about whether she should have been climbing at all.  Many argued that she was first and foremost a mother; it was irresponsible of her to risk her life and deny her children their mother, particularly at such a young age.  Two other fatalities on that trip were also parents, but they were male and there were no such conversations about them as fathers.  I remember at the time feeling incensed that people would question her right as a woman to make her own choices; I recall many heated discussions with friends and family at the time.  

    I was lucky to grow up in a household where I was never made to feel that being a girl was a barrier to anything.  I could do and be whatever I chose, provided I worked hard enough.  I went to an all girls’ secondary school, where it felt normal to assume that we could achieve not as well as the boys, because there were no boys against whom to compare, but in our own right. Such a solid foundation stood me in good stead when I later entered a male-dominated working environment.  

    It feels all wrong somehow to have to even think about women’s equality because it should be a given.  But we do need to think about it and keep talking, celebrating and honouring.  Alison Hargreaves’ story has stayed with me, and when invited to write a poem on the theme of Women in History for the York Literature Festival in 2009, it was Alison’s story I wanted to tell.  When interviewed about her decision to climb professionally and put her life in danger, she responded that it was better to live one day as a tiger than a thousand as a sheep.  I like to think we all have our inner tiger and I work hard to nurture mine.  How about you?  

    the tigerDownload