Strange Sisters
Rachael (left), Dearbhaile and Jo (right)
As well as performing as a Bard, Jo Waterworth, Rachael Clyne and I work together as Strange Sisters. I've been working with Jo and Rachael for a couple of years now and it's been a magical and challenging experience working with such talented poets. We collaborate over a period of months to produce one of our performances. I am amazed by the way our work weaves together to create something greater than the sum of its parts - a song in three voices.
In these Great Turning Times, it is the role of the poet to reflect to us all the realities around us. 'Acclimatising' is an exploration of our responses to climate change and transition and the video 'Strange Sisters say it for the planet' is a selection from the Acclimatising set. As we say in the booklet of the poems we've self-published (you can order this by contacting me), "We attempt through our poetry to take you on a journey through the fears, resistances and the courage to the visions of hope that will sustain us".
Strange Sisters say it for the planet!
If you'd like us to come and perform at an event you're running, please get in touch. It is about half an hour long and we will consider performing anywhere so long as our hosts can meet our expenses for showing up. We've had a tremendous response to every performance we've done so far. Literary festivals, Transition Town events, and other celebrations of creativity are perfect settings for Strange Sisters.
We're working now on our third set of poems which will become another performance piece. This one we're writing for the 50th anniversary of the opening of Chalice Well Gardens. Now that we've done it a couple of times I'm excited by the roller-coaster ride it always is.
So here's a poem I wrote about the experience of working with Strange Sisters as part of our 'Seasoning' collection and the text of Soul Circle, possibly my best known offering.
Already it is a happier winter
As yet unlived,
Turning leaves betokening the great wheel's
Turning in anticipation of rain and dark
And morning's waking to the icy touch of air
Before I light the fire.
Already this winter promises gatherings,
Circles of friendly faces,
As we three witches tonight
Stirred up the caldron of memory
With scissors, paper, stone.
Spinning the threads,
Gathering up fragments of ourselves,
And offering them as delicacies
For each other's delectation.
Swirling, shaping, sharing,
Celebrating the spells we're weaving.
Oh yes this is a happier winter
Than others I have known.
All my mourning one year on:
Softer, quieter, no longer stormy,
Tearing, ripping, slashing,
Violent. This winter I will gather
The shards left over,
Fashion them in form,
Piece myself together
An offering to the Goddess,
A gift to share with others.
Soul Circle
My heart aches for a soul circle
Where we humans form the hub
And in the centre, divine spirit
Is guiding all in love.
A circle of equals, united in interest,
Celebrating the diversity we find in our midst,
Knowing our strength is in our differences,
Our willingness to hold conflicting perspectives.
But all there is is us'uns
With our faults and failures and foibles
And all the bits left over
From our imperfect childhoods.
Anger and hurt, fear and impotence,
Endless battles of our little egos,
Our incompetent communications
And inability to handle conflict.
So how is it going to work then?
This transition to the future
When each of us embodies
The woundings of our culture?
We fumble our way forward.
Keep speaking truth.
Keep listening.
Keep going
Until we find the place of healing,
Evolve into a soul circle
Where we humans form the hub
And in the centre, divine spirit
Is guiding us in love.