The Bandstand

This morning the air brings the smell of many blooms. In my head I picture peonies and geraniums and in my heart I feel summer. It has been pretty cold, grey and rainy for June so far so this feels new and enlivening. It begins to balance the fact that my eyes that did not want to open this morning.

On Saturday I put on my new t-shirt and headed for the bandstand in the park in Oswestry ready for the town’s first Pride festival. I also packed a jumper and a coat. I even used my hood on arrival because it was very rainy. I had to hold it away from my ears so I could keep my wits about me when crossing the road, but thought it was better than turning up looking like what my nan would have termed a drowned rat. Fortunately, the downpour stopped before the entertainment began which meant that people could gather by the bandstand to listen as well as listen whilst picnicking or browsing the stalls. This was my first poetry reading at Pride, my first reading from a bandstand and my first time reading with a microphone that had to be spoken into. All those firsts felt rather exciting.

I had great fun choosing the poems for my set and Kath came to Poetry Corner in the lounge earlier in the week to listen in and check my timing. There was much laughter after this when a quick scroll through social media saw the event described as “family friendly”. We decided it was probably best to remove some of the darker poems I had included (and my one erotic poem) from the list. After all, I would like to be invited back.

Linking the poems from my different collections and the anthologies I have been published in was fun. We had been talking about the preamble before poems as a way of introducing them and that some people like this and it can give a nice way of settling the poem into its moment. This is coming more naturally to me now as I see the importance of it.  ‘Answering My Mother’ was included in my choices because I thought it would appeal to all ages and even people who would not class themselves as poetry lovers. And it seemed to go down well. Overall it was interesting to note the poems that seem to drop at the audience’s feet when I finish reading them rather than hang in the air. I think I have done some learning about which poems to leave on the page and which ones are in their element when floated out into the air to be listened to.

Alt text says this week’s photo is, ‘A person standing behind a sign’. I say it is a poet slightly on tiptoe because they didn’t really adjust the mic properly for themselves reading the first poem in their set at Oswestry Pride 2024. I also say they must have disappeared behind the sign each time they bent down to select a different book to read from and missed the opportunity to milk that moment by popping up like a puppet!

As well as performing, I got to be in the audience this week because Kath was part of a concert on Friday night. I loved hearing Zadok the Priest and seeing different young people take centre stage for a range of solo performances in amongst the choir’s offerings. I also loved the fact that I got to sit quietly in the church whilst the rehearsal took place. I am fascinated by watching people use their skills and love just sitting without speaking. It stills my mind and sometimes there is a lot that benefits from being stilled.

I wondered on the way home about my journey from being the ten-year-old child who read their Harvest Festival poem in a church to being an adult poet who felt nervous at the very thought of standing up and sharing their work. I am enjoying my poetic journey and the way combining it with coaching enables me to see what makes me tick and thrive. Those young people in the church on Friday were having wonderfully rich experiences of performing to an audience. I love that they were using their skills authentically and would be able to feel the feedback and take time to reflect afterwards on how it felt and what they were going to do next. I need to write to the choirmaster to let him know how much I enjoyed the performances so he can share this with the performers. It feels important to me that they hear some words about it as well as have their own reflections.  

Positive feedback about my coaching this week included a person I share thinking time and space with telling me that their tendency to overthink had diminished. I know the joy this brings when it happens so to also know that I have helped someone with this brings me extra joy. I have treated myself to another Nancy Kline book to read and this one is called, “The Promise that Changes Everything. I Won’t Interrupt You.”

The time and space that thinkers create in a coaching relationship is a privilege to be part of. The uniqueness comes from proper listening and deep thinking, and I get the feeling this book will help me continue to develop my use of silence. Of course there is plenty that goes on beyond that space and between sessions, but the thought that six lots of ninety minutes over a six-month period can be such a good investment of time feels well worth celebrating. I am glad for my new path and love working 1:1 with people.

Here’s to words and to silence and to really listening to them both.