Author: Lucy Crispin

poetry, poetry appreciation, reflection

talking or lying…?

Aug 6, 2024 #connection, #courage, #despair, #fear, #honesty, #intimacy, #isolation, #Larkin, #Philip Larkin, #poem, #poetry, #relationship, #Talking in Bed by Lucy Crispin

A friend of mine recently dealt with a potentially tricky situation between us with tremendous grace and courage. Their honesty brought to mind this poem about its opposite—a poem I have long loved with a deep sense of melancholy, fearing that it spoke The Truth. It’s always a great relief when I remember the poem speaks the poet’s truth, with which we all may resonate sometimes, but which need not be The Whole or Only. See what you think about Larkin’s ‘Talking in Bed‘:

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news, poetry appreciation, publications

it’s been a while

Jul 23, 2024 #therapy hope poem poetry Samaritans by Lucy Crispin

And shit has been more and less together in the meantime, but at last I’m able to anticipate regular posting again. Hurrah! I thought I’d start with a simple one, partly because it’s about my other work as a therapist (which has swallowed a lot of my time in the last year) and partly because I’m chuffed that it was chosen as an entry in the Samaritans Book of Hope anthology. Here it is:

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poetry appreciation

dependence

Aug 23, 2022 #beauty, #climate catastrophe, #climate change, #coronavirus, #covid, #Covid 19, #creation, #fear, #grief, #human, #interdependence, #John Daniel, #poem, #social by Lucy Crispin

In the middle of a feverish round of Covid this poem dropped into my inbox (I guess it would be on the 4th July, now I come to think about it): ‘Dependence Day‘ by John Daniel. Struggling as I was with the necessary isolation of Testing Positive, I found the poem really hit home. See how you like it.

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poetry appreciation
poetry appreciation

making yourself at home…

May 19, 2022 #at home, #aunt, #aunty, #generosity, #Kahf, #kindness, #love, #Mohja Kahf, #welcome, #what the afternoon knows by Lucy Crispin

I guess it’s not surprising that this poem appeals to me so much, living as I am in a new place with no contacts. The poem’s been sitting on my desktop for weeks, waiting for when the internet was plumbed in and the stars aligned and I was ready to think about writing. So here it is: ‘The Aunty Poem‘ by Mohja Kahf.

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poetry appreciation

moving house

Mar 17, 2022 #another reason why i don't keep a gun in the house, #Billy Collins, #Collins, #home, #home is so sad, #house, #Larkin, #moving, #moving house, #Philip Larkin by Lucy Crispin

Well, I can recommend you don’t do a google search for a poem about moving house. There’s a awful lot from the Verse For A Greetings Card/emesis school out there. However, I did want to give notice that the column will be on leave for a few weeks while I find the computer, get the interweb connected and do all the other stuff that you do when you move home. And I couldn’t inflict Larkin’s ‘Home is so sad‘ on you, micro masterpiece though it is. So I persisted in my search, and offer you a spot of Billy Collins which made me laugh. Have a go at ‘Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House‘. Let’s hope that this doesn’t foretell the state of things with my new neighbours…

Look forward to being back with you soon.

poetry appreciation

too much reality

Mar 10, 2022 #amazement, #appreciation, #awe, #experience, #fear, #Fortune, #gratitude, #grief, #hope, #Howe, #innocence, #Kennedy, #lucky, #Marie Howe, #presence, #september 12 2001, #The Gate, #wonder, #XJ Kennedy by Lucy Crispin

There’s a lot of reality to deal with at the moment. As ever, I’m helped by poetry—and by sharing it; and by the conversations it stimulates. For some reason this poem in particular has been calling me over the last few days. Perhaps ‘The Gate‘ by Marie Howe might be helpful for you too. Let me know.

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poetry appreciation

bear with me…

Feb 24, 2022 #acceptance, #amazement, #belief, #faith, #God, #god says yes to me, #Haught, #Kaylin Haught, #lovable, #love, #relief, #self acceptance, #wonder by Lucy Crispin

I realise I may be pushing it, offering you a poem containing reference to ‘god’ two weeks in a row. For me, though, both last week’s poem and this week’s can work simply in humanistic terms, even if they speak differently to those with a faith in god (whatever she may look like). Where last week’s poem spoke of the power of appreciation and gratitude, this week’s is about acceptance; and I hope that even if you’re triggered by the word god you’ll hang in there long enough to read Kaylin Haught’s ‘God says Yes to Me‘.

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poetry appreciation

remember those emergency lanterns?

Feb 17, 2022 #alchemy, #alive, #amazement, #appreciation, #death, #emergency lantern, #energy, #Eve L Ewing, #Ewing, #existential, #glad, #gladness, #gratitude, #inspire, #inspiring, #joy, #joyful, #Libby Purves, #life, #mindful, #mindfulness, #presence, #Purves, #uplifting, #wonder by Lucy Crispin

The ones Libby Purves referred to when she spoke of how poetry could function? Well, for me this poem, ‘testify‘ by Eve L Ewing, is a great emergency lantern. Does it shine a light for you?

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poetry appreciation

the nadir experience

Feb 10, 2022 #accompaniment, #apostrophe, #be near me when my light is low, #despair, #grief, #hopeless, #hopelessness, #in memoriam ahh, #meaninglessness, #metre, #nihilism, #rhyme, #rhyme scheme, #Tennyson by Lucy Crispin

Needless to recount again my extreme enthusiasm for Tennyson’s In Memoriam AHH. For today’s “poem that helps” I offer you ‘Be near me when my light is low’, poem 50 out of In Mem‘s 131-poem length. It’s in the public domain, so the text is below; but if you want a laugh, you can listen to a computer read it here. It’s hilarious. For what it should sound like, try this one.

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