An apogee of pain
When all else disappears
Eyes closed you grimace
Clasping the wound
An eternity in seconds
Centred on you
Anything else is nothing
Until your breath returns
Copyright © 2016 Kim Whysall-Hammond
An apogee of pain
When all else disappears
Eyes closed you grimace
Clasping the wound
An eternity in seconds
Centred on you
Anything else is nothing
Until your breath returns
Copyright © 2016 Kim Whysall-Hammond
The other nations of this Earth live along side us
Misunderstood, undervalued, used and abused
So many of us not longer see them
We fortunate few may wilfully misunderstand
But many see the truth, see the power and strength
Even in a hen, blackbird or crow
Animals are the other nations of this Earth
Caught in the net of time
Travellers with us on this one green globe
Copyright © 2017 Kim Whysall-Hammond
“….the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”
~ Henry Beston
It seems that I’ve always known this poem, so I imagine that it was one of the many that my mother would declaim, often loudly, as she either did the housework, or alternatively, if she decided her children needed a bit of entertainment/ embarrassment/ education (delete as appropriate). Other poems Mum used included “The boy stood on the burning Deck” and “Gunga Din”. However, this is the one that has become part of my personal philosophy of life….
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
by WH Davies
As winter, and so much else
winds to an ending
we begin the work
to forge paths back into the world
to be able to walk out without worry
to travel and explore new places
new thoughts, new ways of living
we must be gentle and patient
give grace to the vulnerable of body and feeling
as we each find our own pace in the years ahead
Copyright © 2022 Kim Whysall-Hammond
Inspired by, and in some places using the words of, Angela T Carr.
a dreaming skin – Writing, Poetry & Creativity | Angela T Carr, Dublin, Ireland (wordpress.com)
Moorland lurks in my soul
skies that bleed rain, seep mist
slant slopes that yearn for sunlight in winter
twilight danger as sharp branched trees close in
a dance with the lowering sky
someone once said it was my altar
my shadow a church spire across bog
Copyright © 2022 Kim Whysall-Hammond
I’m delighted to tell you that three of my poems have been published online today in Issue 7 of Littoral Magazine.
The poems are Life Without, Perspectives and Shaman. My thanks to Mervyn Linford for taking these poems.
The magazine can be found at
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/65871859/issue-7-littoral-magazine-autumn-equinox-issue
We stumble along, believing we hold the map
Believing we guide our path or someone does somewhere
From the darkness to the light and back
The bird flies through the drinking hall and is gone
Leaving memories, echoes and silence
All we are is memories and echoes
All we can do is try to fracture the silence.
Copyright © 2021 Kim Whysall-Hammond
Give me the hills
that I may look down upon life
and up into the infinite
that I may relish fresh air
and the walk behind me
Give me their space and quietude
the grace to understand
their perspective
Copyright © 2021 Kim Whysall-Hammond
Written for EarthWeal
Surround yourself with beauty
Look at what you own
Is it beautiful or loved?
Does it give you pleasure?
Does it embody a memory?
Keep it
Possessions need to work for you
Need to lift you
Need to remind you who you are
Designer labels? Latest high tech? Do you need to follow the herd?
I sit in a room with books I love and want
With photos of those I love
With objects and art that say something to me
All bought on a shoestring
Possessions do not define me, they cannot say who I am
My poetry attempts that
But my possessions comfort me
my attempt to surround myself in beauty.
Copyright © 2015 Kim Whysall-Hammond
To find your heart’s desire first remove the dust from your eyes
Then rinse the pain from your heart and the worries from your mind
Ignore the chain of possessions and relationships that bind you
Look deep into your soul: What is your heart’s true and only desire?
Now, does it amaze you? Does it appall you?
Or did you not find one?
Copyright © 2016 Kim Whysall-Hammond
Inspired by Leonard Durso https://leonarddurso.com/2016/06/10/the-hearts-desire/