The famous line from Douglas Adam’s Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy sums up our recent holiday in northern Spain. We went to a little town in Cantabria called San Vicente de la Barquera to see the total eclipse of the sun.
The next part of the story can be told in a few words: ‘It was cloudy’. Nature had decided that it was not our turn to see it and so instead we spent a few days enjoying the food of the region which is mostly fish and seafood. It was delicious. There were also lessons learnt about how we lay careful plans and make long journeys in pursuit of an experience that eludes us.
At about 7.20 on the day of the eclipse it went dark, very dark and then after a few minutes the light came back. It was, even without the sun being visible, dramatic and a bit unsettling. It brought to mind the ancient peoples the world over who have worshipped the sun and must have feared that it would not return, although I suspect that we underestimate their ability to predict such things, as the pyramids, Stonehenge, Maeshowe and Machu Pichu remind us with their persistent mysteries and fascination.
Before the one we didn’t see, the last total eclipse visible from Spain was in 1905. This year’s event was the first in what is being called the ‘Iberian trio’, with two more expected in 2027 and 2028. (You wait over a century for a total eclipse and then three come along at once.)
Thinking about this, I found myself developing a metaphor about he process of writing poetry as I experience it. I start work on an idea and think about it for long time, then comes the drafting and planning and trying to make it work as a poem. And last the moment of realisation that that particular poem is not going to work and has to be abandoned.
I have just had a month off writing in the hope that inspiration would come, following my completion of the draft of my collection. It hasn’t happened and I am left wondering if maybe inspiration is like nature. I wait for weeks for a poem to come and three come along at once unbidden. I keep hoping …
My writing life
As I have confessed above, I have taken a break from my writing life. The month has been busy with the garden and chasing eclipses etc. Now I have just started to return to the more disciplined activities of normal writing time. I am aiming to write my journal most days and re-start Kate Clanchy’s writing practice discipline, which did produce some work, as well as resume the reading of poetry. I try to be faithful about this practice but I don’t try to be religious!
My reading life
Holiday reading took over. My never exhausted taste for crime novels and one of two other things. I think a visit to the library and or Waterstone’s is overdue to find something to get my teeth into for the autumn months
Hare in the Headlights
One thing I have been doing it coordinating the poets from my local stanza group who are bringing books to sell at the Kendal Book Fair on September 12th. Next Saturday in fact. It is a the Parish Church hall from 9.30 to 3 and with guest poet Linda Anderson. So come along if you are in the area or anywhere near. On October the 1st I am reading at the Gregson Community and Arts Centre, Moor Lane Lancaster as part of our Stanza group’s annual showcase. I hope to see some of you there, in person or on Zoom, so let me know if you need a link.
And finally my poem of the month, Visiting the Mezquita in Cordoba
Going to Spain in the hope of seeing the eclipse reminded me of how much I love the country. It was great to visit again. This month’s poem is about a visit made on another holiday to Cordoba. Cordoba is a small city a short train ride from Seville and there we went to the Mezquita, a mosque built in the 8th C. and taken over as a church when the Muslim rule of that pat of Spain came to an end in the 13th C. It remains a wonderful and magical building.
till next time …
Remember to look out for my blog posts on the first Sunday of the month.