Ruslip Manor Farm Poetry Read 25th Feb 2011

Some nights psychologists need to simply switch off and tonight was the night. Down at the Manor Farm Library in Ruislip, I was up for the quarterly event of doing a poetry read with a warm group of friends. What a lovely night taking it in turns to read favourite poems and some original work from those present including me. The topic was summer, love and relaxation. How ironic that what I had to talk about was conflict and how not everyone has this privilege in a relationship! So there we were reading one by one around the table and what such fun it was as we all went into character. Some new authors, guests and facilitators all joining in. I just could not help myself reading my work It’s all Economics, Narcissistic Withdrawal and I am Alone as my contribution of Social Awareness, that in this world, not everyone is happy, even though this is all we most desire.

Interestingly I found a book on the table ‘101 Poems That Could Save Your Life, an anthology of emotional first aid’, edited by Daisy Goodwin. Having gone around the table for a read twice, on the third read, I thought I would end on a humorous note on the section in the book on Divorce. Vicky Feavour and Sophie Hannah use poetry as a means to cope.

THE END OF LOVE

The end of love should be a big event.
It should involve the hiring of a hall.
Why the hell not! It happens to us all.
Why should it pass without acknowledgement.

Suits should be dry-cleaned, invitations sent.
Whatever form it takes – a tiff, a brawl –
The end of love should be a big event.
It should involve the hiring of a hall.

Better than the unquestioning decent
Into the trap of silence, than the crawl
From visible to hidden, door to wall.

Get the announcement made, the money spent.
The end of love should be a big event.
It should involve the hiring of a hall

Courtesy Sophie Hannah

I find myself here suddenly warding off defence mechanisms, before I got to bed, through humour, and that in itself highlights the agony doesn’t it.