Love, Poetry and Revolution - Tuesday 7th October 2025

I have been swimming deeply in the sea of life, often miles from land, and there hasn't been space to write. Have you ever tried writing whilst immersed in the sea?

Much has been going on externally and internally.

Getting engaged to Q in July has necessitated some early planning, starting with where and when we'll be getting married.  We have a date and a location.  Based on the date of the wedding we've booked a venue for the party.  These two dates being agreed upon, we've sent out initial invitations: this is especially important for most of Q's family as they will be travelling from a land down under, namely Australia. Most of August was taken up with this planning, mentally if not physically.

As wedding-related activities have started to crystallise, I have begun to realise that everything has been leading towards the big day next year. Destiny.

I've also found it hard to write here for a couple of different reasons.

A bee flew into my bonnet and took up residence, at least briefly.  The bee brought with it an idea to write the story of my life through music.  Most of it was written in my head (as often happens) though I did set some of it down.  The problem with this idea is that I couldn't work out where such writing belonged.  It didn't seem right to share it here (assuming it was fit to share); but if not here, then where? I also have a Substack, which is intended primarily for music writing, but not coloured by tales from my life.

As this idea began to take shape, the bee fled, and I became engulfed in the social history of the counter-culture, from the fifties to the clampdown on "illegal" gatherings and "repetitive beats" by the evil Thatcher government. I have always had a deep interest in the counter-culture of the 1960s, perhaps because I just missed it,  but this interest was reawakened by Stewart Lee's excellent five-part radio series, 'What Happened to Counter-Culture?'  Like all interesting topics it led me back to present-day politics, and all the horrors that entails.  It's deeply saddening to think that some of the great gains around social justice, equality and inclusivity that have their roots in the counter-culture, are now under threat. The rot started with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.

I have the time and headspace now to indulge whatever interest takes my fancy, a very liberating reality.  Historically speaking, I've never taken any interest in history, apart from the history of popular music.  Out of the blue I found myself investigating the history of Britain, or rather the pre-history of Britain. This has developed into a deeper investigation of where we came from (migrations) and latterly our evolution.  In effect, this became a dive into archaeology and specifically the use of DNA to trace our prehistoric ancestry.  I found myself deeply engaged and hungry to learn more.  I have no idea where this is leading, if it's leading anywhere, so for now I'm just going with the flow.

As if this wasn't enough, I've also started taking part in shared reading sessions at Calderstones Park in Liverpool.  What is shared reading, I hear you ask?  Essentially, they are led sessions where the facilitator chooses a short story, or a novel, and a poem, and we take turns to read out loud and then discuss. Typically, there are 3 or 4 of us, though the one I attended last week, where we are reading the Pat Barker novel, 'Regeneration' was rammed. Six of us!  The attendees (the sessions I've attended are in the week, during the day) are mostly older folk such as myself, in many cases retired.  The groups are diverse and all the better for it. It is a socially energising activity.

Lots of brain activity, so I've also restarted yoga and am hoping to start a bit of very amateur tennis, if we can organise that.  Watch this space.  After such a long break - maybe 4 years? - i'm finding yoga tough and hard work. So it should be.

I haven't decided how to progress the 'story of my life', but I haven't given up on the idea entirely.  The bee is circling. 

Musically, my listening has been all over the place.  In any given moment, what I listen to depends on my mood. I've been listening to Robert Plant, Peter Hammill, Genesis (specifically the 50th anniversary release of 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'), John Martyn, Suzanne Vega,  Robyn Hitchcock and too many more to mention.  This has made choosing a closing track difficult.

Robert Plant with Saving Grace /  'Everybody's Song'  / (Live on Jools Holland from the album 'Saving Grace')