Living Life Twice

  May 16 National Check Your Wipers Day falls on May 16, to remind drivers in Latin America to regularly check their windshield wipers to ensure optimum visibility in the event of inclement weather on the road. According to a recent study conducted by the Statistics Yearbook of Collisions on Federal Highways 2020, the Mexican Institute of Transportation reported that 29.33% of the accidents recorded were caused by road, vehicle, and natural agents such as rain, wind, fog, smoke, hail, and snow. Checking vehicles wiper blades ensures that the windshield wipers provide adequate visibility in inclement weather. In the case of wipers blades, the recommendation is to change them every 6 or 12 months.   Windscreen Wiper Day Check your wipers Check your wipers The Mexican Institute of Transport Wants drivers to check wibndshield wipers To ensure optimum visibility In the event of inclement weather During the rainy season -They’re working -They’re not working -They’re working -They’re...

  May 15 Sputnik was a Soviet satellite launched on this  day in 1958 from Baikonur Cosmodrome by a modified Intercontental Ballistic Missile(ICBM). The scientific satellite carried a large array of instruments for geophysical research of the upper atmosphere and near space. Sputnik 3 was the only Soviet satellite launched in 1958. Great sounding word-sputnik. Searching the Sky For Sputnik Sputnik Say it quickly Sounds like a wet sneeze Dog slobber wet Sputnik-   World’s first ever satellite Launched from Russia In the year 1957 Circling the earth Racing through outer space Visible in the night sky   A small boy In striped flannelette pyjamas Stands in his front yard On a cool October evening Staring up into the night sky Eyes searching the far away spaces For a moving light The light of Sputnik -And suddenly he sees it The flashing light of the satellite Orbiting the earth A man made wonder Zooming across the n...

May 14 th The second Sunday in May is Mother’s Day in Australia and so today is dedicated to honouring the role mothers play within families. So this poem is shared in honour of my own mother. Ironing- not so glamourous, but my mother always sang when performing this ritual, so it is a memory that endures. Upon my 21st birthday, she gifted me my very own ironing board. I too sing when I iron... A Hiss of Steam Recall my mother All those eyars ago In prime position Behind the ironing board Steam iron poised -the trusty Sunbeam The smell of starch and freshly laundered clothes Surrounding her. The iron hisses on cue She lowers it with care To make connect with the next Unsuspecting fresh and wrinkled garment. My mother launches into song As an effortless rhythm Surronds her labours An unremarkable Act of love For her family Is enacted with a song And a shot steam. ©Alan j Wright

In these strange and unusual days, we  choose our personal responses, our coping mechanisms, our attitudes. For some, it is a chance to explore, revisit and discover. An opportunity to be creative. Boredom can do that. I recall as a child how a sense of boredom frequently lead to inventiveness. I am constantly amazed by the plethora of videos exploring humour and creativity. Some people (across all age groups) are using the time to explore new perspectives. I have chosen to view this time as solitude rather than isolation. For me isolation has a negative connotation and I do not wish to succumb to such characterization of my time. I have accepted the need to live like this. In some ways I am fortunate that I can make such a choice. In reality, I have no choice for I am part of a group who live with a compromised health condition. This virus presents as a significant danger to me personally.Even if the restrictions are eased, for me it will be, a quiet winter. I am fortunate t...

Sharing some verse for those of you in self isolation -and for those who enjoy a little bit of wordplay. One poem from each of my poetry anthologies. Hope you see what you like, and like what you see! #verseversusvirus #poetry #wordplay #poet #chookbook.

I have been hearing a lot about writer's block and the challenge of the blank page in my recent discussions in schools and it set me to thinking... Writers, experienced and inexperienced all face the challenge of the blank page. So let's approach the writing we choose to do with a can-do attitude. The blank page is the very reason the rehearsal of our 'first' or opening words is so vitally important.  When we rehearse those initial words, we turn up to the party bearing gifts! We bring with us a string of words to launch our writing. Words ready to splash across the page. Words to get things going. These rehearsed words provide momentum.  I very much enjoy rehearsing my words. There exists in my head a rich world of words and ideas. They entertain me and prepare me for the writing that follows. This is pre-writing. This is the build up. I consider this a vital part of  the writing process; something to share with student writers, so they can prepare th...

Sunday Papers And Attitude Shapers I am of that generation who grew up reading newspapers. It’s where I learned to read and comprehend the world, essentially. My parents relied heavily on the arrival of morning and evening newspapers to receive the news of the day.  The digital age had not dawned. And while I have embraced the digital news cycle and am attuned to constant news updates via social media and news outlets, my phone and my watch, I still retain my need for reading the printed news each morning. I love the smell of newsprint in the morning, to paraphrase a more famous quote. There is a line in the chorus of Josh Pyke’s 2015 song, Be Your Boy that goes- ‘ Watch the fathers collect the papers… ’ well, that’s me. Strolling out into the morning light to gather up the plastic wrapped morning news. Sunday papers are for me a slow and deliberate read. I roll willingly in the newsprint, metaphorically speaking that is. I am informed and infuriated in e...

Poetry at Brighton Primary School, Adelaide, South Australia Last Friday I had the special treat of working with Year 7 poets from Brighton Primary School in Adelaide. During the day we closely examined a range of poetic structures and devices and applied them to our writing of poetry. With one group I introduced Suzanna Marshak’s  powerful book ‘I Am The Ocean’ to alert these enthusiastic poets to the potential power of writing through a mask and using personification. Another group looked at personification through their connection to things in the world around them.  Pre-writing discussion followed by intensive writing. Using the poem, ‘I Am These Things And More’ as a model.  Students were challenged to think about these important connections. A particular focus of the writing was to try to incorporate effective use of repetition, line breaks, simile and white space in their composed pieces. These young poets talked in groups and identified t...