I haven't been able to listen to music recently. (Who would have thought depression could prevent me from doing that too?) But, I had the good sense to click on Jonna's Jintons Singing Ice video, a two hour long 'song' of growing ice creating otherworldly sounds. And folks...my soul for a while stopped trembling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-CwJa1SHE
There are certain trees I find myself gravitating towards – spruce, pine, oak and birch. When I was living in Sweden, there was one silver birch in particular that I'd pass on my daily walk in the forest, and which I felt a kinship with. I’d always stop and watch it for a while. More… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : Birch Trees
I haven't been able to read much recently - my concentration has been dire - but slowly, slowly it's starting to return to some kind of normality. In the excitement of this happening, I went and bought the Kindle version of The Fiends In The Furrows : An Anthology Of Folk Horror. It's made up… Continue reading Wyrd Words Book Club : The Fiends In The Furrows
My new book, My Heart Is A Forest is now available in paperback and on Kindle! It's made up of my strongest poems from the past ten years. A father kills an elusive pale fox and pays for the death with his sanity. The Barghest, Black Annis and other dark creatures of British folklore comfort… Continue reading My New Book ‘My Heart Is A Forest’ Is Now Available
I gathered in the first of the blackberries today – an impressive handful of six weighty berries were very gently placed in the front pocket of my rucksack. (It’s still a bit early for them to be coming out, so I considered myself very fortunate to have gathered six.) I’ve been thinking about blackberries a… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : Blackberries
I went beachcombing last night. I scuttled under the immense Jurassic cliffs at Saltburn-By-The-Sea, and filled my carrier bag with rocks and driftwood and more rocks. (I really wanted to find sea glass but only scored two tiny pieces.) It was the first time, in as long as I can remember, that I felt like… Continue reading Wyrd Days : Saltburn-By-The-Sea
Everything has been too much today. I'm depressed, exhausted and all my senses are way too overloaded. Even the mumbled noise of people talking in another room is making me twitch. Saga has been screaming in my face for the past twelve hours, I can't get my stupid septum ring out of my stupid nose,… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : When Everything Is Just Too Much
I think that tea tastes better in certain cups. There, I've said it. But I don't think I'm the only one. I can't be the only one to think this. I know it sounds a bit OCD, potentially a bit superstitious, but I believe the deliciousness of my tea can depend on what cup it… Continue reading I’m Quite Peculiar About My Tea Cups
There are three memories from my childhood that, for reasons unbeknown, creep up on me at least a few times a week. These memories are of the stinging nettle, a plant most of us do our damned best to avoid, unless we know how to utilize it. The first memory is of when my seven… Continue reading Thinking In The Dark : The Stinging Nettle
Celebrating the strange and the shadowy, the damned and unseen 