Myther

Published in erbacce June 2022

In Frank Battaglia's essay, he asks 'Does Beowulf oppose the Earth Goddess of ancient Germanic religion?" I had already been wrestling with various translations of Beowulf whilst researching the poem and the essay brought it into focus. 

Seamus Heaney translates Grendel's mother as 'tarn hag' and 'hell bride'.  In other translations, she is 'sea woman' and 'powerful lady', respectively. 

The poem grew from a sense that Grendel's mother represented the ancient female centred pagan deities.  I identified with the monstrous mother who would kill in vengeance for her son's death, no matter that he was himself a monster.  

I treated myself to some recently published poetry.

When you realise after your anger fizzles that you weren't angry about the parrot. 

This is certainly one of my poems where I wrote it before I knew what it was about. And the form came before the content. It had to. It was painful to write. Positive or negative. Depends which way you read it.

Life shifts like the cakewalk, my favourite ride at Hull fair. 

The soundtrack of my childhood was loud - a mixture of rock and drums. Dad dancing to Osibisa and Sandy Nelson. The neighbours complaining. Calling the police. Hawkwind at Hull Town Hall.  

Dad died four years ago. The lyrics to Woyaya by Osibisa resonate. 

We are going, heaven knows where we are going,
We'll know we're there.
We will get there, heaven knows how we will get there,
We know we will.

It will be hard we know
And the road will be muddy and rough,
But we'll get there, heaven knows how…

I wrote The Word for Rose about the shift..

Placed in the international erbacce poetry competition. 

Published in erbacce April 2021

Published in The Lake

I understand how our ancestors believed in sea monsters and mermaids when I walk along deserted beaches. After one such walk with my daughter, I wrote Dolphins.