I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on.
- Joni Mitchell 'River'
I am a river today
a river of sadness
Does a warrior cry?
Where do tears come from?
Don't cry Don't cry
Be happy Be happy
Oh how tired I am today
I am a river of sadness today
But I am sitting up today
in the corner chair by the window
staring at the white white bed
and straining for the first sweet refrain
of birds.
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About Me
- Shaista
- I live a meditative life in a green village in England. I was diagnosed with Lupus when I was 18 and some of my poetry writes itself in response to living with such a peculiar, demanding and life-altering illness. And some of it is about love longing hope birdsong waiting for spring... I write about freedom. And heroes. I am often and very easily inspired!
THE GRADUATE
Featured post
HINENI, HINENI
הנני A few years ago, Leonard Cohen released a song on his 82nd birthday. 'You Want It Darker' is in English but for the rep...
finally, and sadly, finished
Nina Riggs' memoir is so beautiful, and feels like a friend. I read her slowly, knowing she isn't alive and yet very much alive in her words...
Just Read (and Recommend)
The Vegetarian by Han Kang, Man Booker prize winner, and an extraordinary tale of rebellion.
ALSO THIS...
Ocean's poetry has travelled seas with me... the ideal poetry book for travels across Asia. I even nearly made it to Vietnam this year!
Recommended Read
Terese Marie Mailhot's prose that reads like poetry... an indigenous American Indian woman's truth telling.
WU FENG ROAD
The art and heart work of my beloved Jeanne-ming Brantingham-Hayes.
My Mother's Work
Dr Tayabali's Art
A lifetime selection of Dad's oils, watercolours and pastels...
RECOMMENDED READING
LOVED
Utterly absorbing - the story of kung fu nuns in Nepal, young girls seeking refuge in Burma, this is a feminist tale for modern times.
LOVED
Ann Patchett's memoir of her friendship with the poet Lucy Grealy. I was gripped, and for the first time in the longest time, ignored my protesting eyes and read it in one day. Beautiful.
CAMBRIDGE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER CHRIS BOLAND
Cambridge wedding photographer Chris Boland creates worlds of beauty here.
WHEN PIGLET ASKED POOH
Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. 'Pooh?' he whispered. 'Yes, Piglet?' 'Nothing,' said Piglet, taking Pooh's hand. 'I just wanted to be sure of you.'
MONK WALKING
Life waits patiently for true heroes - Thich Nhat Hanh.
MALALA
A HANDBOOK FOR LIVING
in pursuit of a room of my own...
There was a star riding through clouds one night, and I said to the star, 'Consume me' - Virginia Woolf
NECESSARY READING
EATING POETRY by Mark Strand
Ink runs from the corners of my mouth. There is no happiness like mine. I have been eating poetry.
KINDNESS by Naomi Shihab Nye
Before you know what kindness really is, you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment, like salt in a weakened broth.What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, all this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between the regions of kindness.
Breathing with Thich Nhat Hanh
peace meeting peace
thay and the lama
ON SCIENCE AND HOPE
Faith is a Fine Invention When Gentlemen Can See - But Microscopes are Prudent In an Emergency - Emily Dickinson
Lady Murasaki Shikibu
Someone passes, And while I wonder if it is he, The midnight moon is covered with clouds.
women for women international
Somaly mam - illumined hero
Have you heard of Somaly Mam? She is Cambodian, survived slavery, and transforms the lives of young girls every moment she lives and breathes.
I keep my guru in my heart, and Gandhi in my head.
Tenzin Tsundue is a Tibetan poet and activist, currently residing in exile, in Dharamsala.
Strengthened by Frida Kahlo
“I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you.”
Une Envie de Sel
The Unbearable Lightness of being Q... and her family by Maia Chavez Larkin
Blog Like No One's Reading
Agnes'_Pages_, one of my favourite places to travel.
it is only with the heart that one can see rightly
What is essential is invisible to the eye
rumi days
Dr Karen Woo, the softly spoken British humanitarian aid worker, who was killed in Afghanistan last year. She was a dancer for years before realising she could not truly help be a changemaker through ballet.
macK's attic
A place I draw inspiration from. My happy place :)
from Catherine at A Thousand Clapping Hands
Sent when I was at my worst in hospital, this was like a balloon filled with hope :)
A Year With Rilke
Daily readings of the maestro, by Ruth and Lorenzo...