Birchmere

Introduction

Maybe you are like me. Maybe you found yourself on one of life’s unexpected highways, with no clear destination in mind. Maybe the other drivers are unforgiving; they honk their horns loudly and make unpleasant hand gestures towards you. So you pull over at the next convenient stop to gather yourself.

Birchmere was my convenient stop. My refuge. A place to catch my breath.

Between 2015 and when I moved to Birchmere Close, my marriage failed. A business venture was unsuccessful. I was separated from the two girls I adore and who adore me. My best man was killed violently in a community from which we escaped. Another friend was slain in an adjoining neighbourhood within the same year. I lost almost everything I owned - except my mind and I sometimes wonder why it kept hanging around the way it did. Those tumultuous years gave me more than enough fodder to chew on. Consequently, in 2017, I started putting on paper whatever moved me.

On January 17, 2019, I discovered the famous American poet, Mary Oliver. Yes, we met the day she died and I couldn’t have enough of her. I bought a few of her books and immersed myself in her world.

By the time I moved to Birchmere Close in June 2019, Mary (we are now on first name basis!) had opened my eyes and ears. The quietness of Birchmere spoke to me loudly. Its lake, teeming with scaled and feathered lives, stirred me immensely. I began to see poems in almost everything that moves, breathe, dies and others that sit still, minding their own business. That’s when this book was born.

But be warned, I have never studied creative writing or Shakespeare. I actually googled the spelling of his name to write this! I am a numbers speaker who hold qualifications in Chemical Engineering Technology and Physics. And even though my vocabulary now includes free verse, I am not supposed to be a poet. Bear that in mind as you read my thoughts on family, friendships, love, loss and nature.

So, like me, maybe you need to pull over at the next convenient stop. Maybe this book is that stop. Maybe you will aim to catch at least your breath and catch the rest of your life!