 We celebrated my husband’s birthday with two friends on an October afternoon just before twilight changed the world and plunged us into the dark of a complete lockdown that carried on right through the night of long winter months. The landscapes of my external world became smaller, restricted, whilst those of my internal world expanded into poetry. I am certain that the beauty of the changing light and the sea outside my window played a considerable part in keeping me working and keeping me sane. I carried on writing though I did not finish the book I had intended to put out before Christmas. Instead I shelved it temporarily, giving the inspiration time to breathe, replanting it like a seed in the soil of imagination, where it developed a few new shoots and even a new title. At the beginning of summer, my cup is filling with enthusiasm again, as my project is once more enlivened in the light of the rising sun. Next time I meet up with the other 5 people in my writing circle we shall be outside in a green growing garden, instead of peering at each other’s faces in little boxes on Zoom. Now don’t get me wrong, Zoom has been a marvellous tool for staying in touch during lockdown, but I find virtual meetings a poor substitute for the company of real live people interacting with each other in an earthy space. A simple pleasure we once took for granted is now something to appreciate and celebrate. May summer bring you new energy and enthusiasm. AT DAWN AND TWILIGHT THOSE MAGIC IN-BETWEEN HOURS WHEN THE WORLD CHANGES Iona Jenkins A Magical Gift for ChristmasThe Unicorn Gate - the first book in the Legends of Lumenor trilogy of teen and tween books - is now available to download free on Amazon Kindle for five days only.  The magical tales of Toby Malone and Daisy Evans do not just entertain but also encourage 10 to 14-year-olds to develop self-esteem, confidence, a connection with nature, and a sense of belonging, respect for others, personal responsibility and positive cooperation.  Buy books 2 and 3 in the series - The Sheltering Stars and The Garden of Possibility - on Kindle for only 99p each! My ten year old son absolutely devoured this book. Iona draws on the strength and courage of her counselling patients to inspire her writing and this shows in this uplifting and courageous tale.
Lucy Scott I have been out most days during lockdown on short socially distanced walks around my local area. When the restrictions began, we were approaching the Spring Equinox. The flowers came in a blaze of colour and beauty, before we moved into a summer of both heat wave and storm. Images of life and death have certainly seemed close together in 2020 as we have been forced to live more in the present, to come to terms with our human vulnerability and to consider what is really important to us and what is not. Now the harvest has been gathered in, I sense a change in the air and in the earth beneath my feet. I am on my way towards completing a book though it is taking longer than I first envisaged. I have also written poems and taken photos, as well as collecting haw berries from an abundant local tree to make hawthorn brandy (recipes on the internet). A submission I made in June, has seen two of my poems - Wings of Light and Summer Trilogy published in the September issue of a monthly Druid journal called TOUCHSTONE. Wings of LightThe blue grey lull of twilight sea The shore lamps twinkle into night Behind a thin mist curtain like a veil I breathe in stars and fly on wings of light. Iona Jenkins, 2020 Also published in Touchstone 2020 Summer TrilogyThe white flower trumpets Are green leaf creeping Over the old churchyard Grave stones, silent bones Life and death close mingle In sunlight bright gilding The sky is blue above the bay Nectar collecting the bees buzzing In lush lavender purple tumbling Summer scented on grey stone walls The earth is alive and honey making Summer leaves in dusty green And fruit trees heavy laden The cornfields ripened gold All ready for the harvesting The earth is a generous mother. Iona Jenkins, 2020 Also published in Touchstone 2020 The early June full moon is known as the Flower Moon. At this time, the gardens around my home were abundant with blossoms and all manner of flowering plants. The Earth had provided an uplifting feast of scent and beauty, even in the midst of our fight against a terrible virus.  There is something magical about a garden and maybe that magic is what happens when man works in direct cooperation with the Creative Spirit to produce a beautiful environment that lives to grow and change colour in every season. Gardens have individual atmospheres and themes. I particularly like walled gardens because they remind me of a novel that touched me deeply in my late childhood - a classic called The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Set in Yorkshire, the story unfolds as an orphaned girl called Mary discovers the door to a forgotten neglected garden and works to bring it back to life. In doing so, she unleashes a creative, nurturing power that heals her own sorrow, as well as the grief of her cousin and uncle. There are those who choose gardening as a creative path and I for one, love to sit in their masterpieces, as much as I love to sit in the Sistine Chapel amongst the sacred art of Michaelangelo. Green spaces are therapeutic. They are essential since they link us not only to the earth but also to our own souls and the soul of the land. Without green, we would live soul-less lives. Green is a must for urban folk, for the maintenance of mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing. If, like the gardener we make an effort to work in loving cooperation with the Creative Spirit, whatever we might conceive that to be, then we also might just have a chance of healing our world. Summer Solstice blessings to all beings  |
Iona Jenkins
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