I love this visual tree poem Andy created a few years ago. I’m posting it here in yellow & white because it reminds me of the solstice, of the bright summer sun we are enfolded in just now in France & the long shimmering van days spent lazing & loafing by lakes or rivers – I think Walt Whitman would be proud. As the vanlife months roll on I’m still trying to figure out the best way to connect with…
My family have been coming to Lac du Saint Pardoux for over twenty years. I have a deep affinity with this beautiful lake and am loving every step of this weekend reminding me that, in this place I lost my mind & found myself; in this place the landscape came to life in my imagination in a way I would never had said was possible; in this place I asked the trees to help someone I loved dearly & witnessed…
We spent a magical two weeks camping with Andy’s parents near Fanjeux in the south of France. Vanlife is changing our relationships with our families & close friends as much as with ourselves & each other. Perhaps this is because we don’t see people as often, so when we do we make much more of an effort. Vanlife shines a bright light on everything, making us realise how easy it is to take certain connections for granted – with people…
Working on writing another poem in the ‘connecting with trees’ series has me thinking of this poem written over a year ago. Increasingly I feel I have nothing to teach, increasingly I believe I cannot show anybody how to do anything – it’s one of the reasons I’ve quit workshopping. How can I stand in front of a group and teach them how to write anything if all I can really do is to say?: You are beautiful & individual…
Vanlife wouldn’t be the same without this guy. We’ve been together fifteen years now and our relationship has been a beautiful, constantly evolving creature from day one. Sometimes I can’t believe all the things we’ve created together – all the different ways in which our lives overlap & intertwine; all the highs & lows we’ve celebrated & weathered. We still talk incessantly & share & laugh like our early days. There are of course some times we get stuck &…
We’ve been stationary in the south of France for over a week and it’s finally given me the space to finish the new poetry pamphlet, The Slow-Time Traveller. I’m returning to a hand-stitched pamphlet for this in the way that Hanes, Prophecy, and DRKMTR were all made. Having a limited run and taking the time to make each piece feels fitting. There’s something connecting & grounding about this way of Slow Publishing. I wrote a poem for connecting with autumn/winter…
Travelling across Europe I am coming to realise how many more cultures exist in the liminal spaces between living people & history books; how many more words & stories grow like weeds in the manicured lawn of western cultural hegemony. I need to learn languages again. I don’t have any except English and Cymraeg (and my Welsh unravels a little more every day I don’t use it); although I can get by in French. I woke thinking of this older…
I’ve always loved cooking. When the kids were younger we got a weekly vegbox delivered and then later I became part of a local CSA. Now we’re on the road it takes a bit longer to hunt out local farmers markets, and to be honest they’re not always on when we’re passing through, so it’s a mix of markets, local shops and supermarkets. These days we’re vegetarian and I’m creating more vegan meals as the time rolls on. Only having…
Excerpt from The Slow-Time Traveller. Part of the new chapter just published on OUTSIDER this morning. Password for all content is over on Patreon. Any time you sign up you get access to the whole back catalogue. Thank you to everyone who’s shown support for this new book format, allowing me the space to experiment with publishing forms.…