Stitch 'n Bitch

"Stitch 'n bitch"

When a group of people,

Usually women,

Get together

Eat and drink 

And knit and sew and 

Work on crafty projects

It was lovely to watch

Women working on 

Patchwork quilts

And curtains

And bags

Made from pretty fabrics

How delightful to participate

For one afternoon 

In this world

Of feeding and project making 

The whir and rattle of 

Sewing machines 

The chatter of women

And new mothers

Their three tiny babies

Hanging out in basinets 

Or on blankets on the floor  

The eldest of the three

Six months old

Reveling in her newly acquired skill of 

Rolling Over

You can almost see joy in her face

When gravity, and a little effort,

Changes her view of the world 

Yet understanding with complete clarity 

This is not my world 

I have no desire to be a mother

To cradle

And rock a little one to sleep 

To discuss feeding habits 

Or diaper changes

Or what foods to eat to produce more breast milk  

Or where to seek useful information 

On all of the above 

Colouring a mandala 

And knowing

All of our stories, choices, and worlds

Are different

And that we all contribute to the vast 

Patchwork of life

With our own forms of creation

The end. 

Civilised

It has been said

The peak of civilisation

Has been reached

When the society

Has a thriving artistic system

But is that society

Civilised

When you walk outside

The palaces of creation

And see men and women

Who cannot afford to eat

Or shelter their

Weary bodies?

MonuMENt

Men are remembered

As scientists, soldiers

Arists and architects

As political leaders

And heroes 

Women are remembered 

For the care they give men

As mothers and nurses 

And bodies 

In Embankment Park
Every monument is to a man
The one woman
Leans

Bare-breasted, weeping, delicate, sensual, against Sullivan's bust

Days Like These

The sky is blue. And the air is crisp. And the night before you’ve been to see your favourite band, The Cat Empire. And the gig is not one of their most mind-blowing or exhilarating, but they play some of your favourites, like The Car Song and The Darkness and The Chariot. And seeing those Aussie boys all the way over here in London playing their tight tunes and doing what they do best just makes you feel good. And you remember all the gigs you’ve seen them play over the past 8 years and all the friendships and lovers they’ve seen you through and you know at the end of the day, no matter what, despite the glorious cliche of it, you’ll always have the music. And in the morning you head out to East London to meet up with old friends and you walk down Brick Lane. And you smell all the delicious curries. And you spot one of the lead singers from the Cat Empire and it makes you feel a bit hip that he’s here too. And you walk through the record shop and find a shelf full of books and you find one which looks interesting and you discover a lovely chapter on food foraging in London and you get so lost in its words and pages that you’re surprised when your friends are suddenly standing in front of you calling out your name reminding you that you are standing in a record shop in east London. And then you sit on a bench in the sun with a chilli hot chocolate and a dark chocolate truffle. And to your left a family is posing for photographs. And to your right people are eating assorted food stuffs from the street vendors dotted all around. And you make your way west towards central London and stroll around St Paul’s Cathedral and feel oddly moved by the Occupy London people. This tent city outside the church, peacefully protesting the status quo. And you head back home and buy pasta and sauce and garlic bread for dinner and supplies for cookie baking. And the sun sinks deeper into the west and streaks the horizon with a dash of highlighter pink. And you smile at the chill in the air. And know you are living the life enchanted. The end. 

Art and About

Imagine walking to the train station

And along the way you can see the Olgas

And an idyllic beach

And a hundred years of history marching through the tunnel

On the other side of the station an old steam train comes rushing out through green fields peppered with yellow flowers

Outside the fish and chip shop herds of seahorses swim in a blue ocean 

And it is nice that someone took the effort

To paint murals around your suburb

The council made an effort to make it nicer

Prettier

Deter vandalism

Art is everywhere if you look closely enough

I have often walked down this street before

And now it sings in technicolour arrangements 

(murals were painted by Robin Martin and commissioned by Ashfield Council. The Underline Project is also an initiative of Ashfield Council)