Angela's Poems On Fire and Pleasure Of Poetry Performed At Church

Harrow Writers Circle work chosen for performance on 26^th September at All Saints Church at 8pm

A Winter’ Imagination: by Indra Sikdar

Fire:

The Pleasure of Poetry: both by Angela Lansbury

Her Countryman:

Time Suspended:

Nature’s Promise: all by Elise Harvey

Balance of the Mind: by Jennie Willetts

The Secret:

Whose Round Is It Anyway? Both by John Samson

Above Suspicion: by Julia Underwood

The Last of Eden by John Waddell

All my Glory:

Dreaming of the Moon:

Well I Can Dream: all by John Monaghan

The above works were all chosen by the Bearfoot Performance Company.

We hope to see you all there to

watch the performance.

As you approach the church down the main path you see sculptures on the grass between the graves and decorations on the seats.

I also found a quotation from a lovely poem on a gravestone. I later went on the web and found the whole poem in various versions, the wording changed to suit fond memories of a mother, father, son whoever.

Within the church is a memorial to the sons (lost in the Great War) of the Blackwell family of Crosse and Blackwell, whose large memorials are outside to the right of the entrance.

A fine carving on the All Saints Church inside wall recalls Gilbert, of Gilbert & Sullivan fame. He wrote the witty words for the operettas, living up the road in what is now Grim's Dyke hotel (which has a wonderful restaurant called Gilbert's - see my reviews on my blogs and trustedplaces.com/yell.com).

Leefe Robinson, local hero of WWI then called the Great War, is buried in the cemetery extension over the road, and recalled in a photo exhibit of news cutting in the Leefe Robinson pub next door to the All Saints church.

What a lot you can do with poetry: write a poem for a gravestone, read a poem at a funeral, print it in the funeral programme, perform it at an arts festival in a church, or convert it into a song.

My poem about fire was inspired by a fire in my neighbour's garden. You can see the photo of the red flames of the fire and black smoke rising like a corkscrewing tornado, billowing and spreading large as a cloud on one of my blogs. That blog also shows a photo of the fire woman who put out the fire, and the fire engine advertisement which directed me to the London Fire Brigade website which has tips on fire prevention at home.

We once had a fire in an electric blanket - while in bed. I tried beating the fire down. Then it started again. Realised you need to turn off the electric current. Check blankets every three years. And have I and you? Oops.

I'd love to have a video of my poem being read, on YouTube, with a link to the Fire Brigade site.

Pudding Party at Art Exhibition Distance Travelled/Time Taken at All Saints Church, Harrow Weald

Pudding Party at Art Exhibition Distance Travelled/Time Taken at All Saints Church, Harrow Weald.

See the Black Hole.

Photograph yourself holding a leaf.

Monday night Sept 26th 2011 Harrow Writers' Circle members' poetry and writing is performed by the Bearfoot Performing Arts - drama through word and performance.

Several pieces have been chosen from the Harrow Writers' Circle anthology This Is What We Do.

My poem on fire will be read and acted out from a gallery.

Saatchi Gallery Sculptures & Mirrors

Free Exhibition

Free is the first exciting word I associate with the Saatchi Gallery. Free entry.

 

The gallery is in a lovely building like a Greek temple with columns overlooking a lawn. Constant new exhibitions are an entertainment. So is the bookshop.

The Oil Mirror 'Floor' Reflecting the Ceiling

A guided tour by Patty gave insights into one of the permanent exhibits, a floor which seems to be a black mirror, reflecting the walls, windows and ceiling, but is actually a lake, a thin layer, only about 4-5 inches thick, of 'dirty' recycled or used oil - not the flammable oil, you'll be relieved to hear. The room was designed to hold the oil lake. The oil is smelly so the windows are open.

Crushed Cars

The main current exhibition (September 2011) started with two crushed cars, including opened airbags, on pillars. You could walk around the cars.

The Orgy

A group of figures with lots of hands turns out on close inspection to be an orgy with lots of phallic bits. How do you get the whole thing through the doorway? It's actually made in separate bits. You can see how some parts are not fixed onto the bodies.

Clay Which Ages

One sculpture is of clay which has deliberately not been fired. So it is gradually getting older and greyer and developing cracks.

I was invited as a guest of the Singapore Airlines Frequent Flyer programme. We met in the restaurant next door whose back room has a sculpture of a giant shoe.

Several of the frequent flyers were in the oil business.

Getting There

Very easy and convenient. Near the tube station.

I'll add photos and more details later.

Useful Websites

https://www.saatchigallery.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saatchi_Gallery

Discussing Problems At Work

In many offices it is the rule that you do not put personal possessions on your desk and you do not discuss personal affairs during office hours.

Whilst the day after, the week after, meeting somebody for the first time after the event, you might discuss a personal tragedy or problem, not more than a year later, not on a regular basis.

Most office workers have a loss or a problem. If we all took our problems to work, nobody would get any work done. Not talking about it enables you to move on.