inspirations

It's funny how it goes - this writing lark. I can go days - sometimes a week or two - and not find the inspiration to write. And then, when it comes, it can produce a scrap - a fragment - or three poems in less than an hour. And then maybe more the next day! I don't exactly know what causes that. I think it may be whatever moves me - if something happens that strikes a chord in me, then the creative voice wakes up and produces something. Maybe if something really moves me, then I get a strong urge to write; when the inspiration is weaker, then the words don't flow as well.

My latest crop (on my website today 27th July) were all written last night - and from three different sources. The first was an email from a friend in which he was trying to convince his readers (and maybe himself) that an irritating problem was actually just a challenge and an opportunity. ("Hey boss, I've got this insurmountable opportunity!"). The second was when I thought about the event he's planning - our imminent return to Arreton Manor on the Isle of Wight for another bout of historical re-enactment. Arreton is a fine example of a tudor/stuart manor house, nestling in a quiet corner of a rural island (if you ignore the farm next door and the tourist attractions nearby). Much history has passed it by - and we do what we can to help visitors to understand what 17th century life might have been like. And then I thought back to Monday - and Jonathan Meades's film about Salisbury Cathedral - described as "one of England's finest medieval buildings with the highest spire in Britain".

Simon.

http://www.facilitator.demon.co.uk