I wrote this for a PASTA night in Wolverhampton. PASTA is a free monthly event organised by Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialistsis, it’s an;
Open mic night with a difference. Each month we meet at the Arena Theatre and ask people to perform a piece they’ve written on a theme which was chosen at the previous event.
The theme was Sunshine, and it was my first poetry reading, so I was bricking it. I’ve been on stage as a drummer or a presenter 3000+ times, but this got me; I was so nervous. Emma, Steve and Dave are amazingly empowering people; they have been a big part of my road to sharing my writing, and they are the same with everyone, lovely people. There was such a fantastic range of poems read on the night. freely shared by a diverse crowd of supportive people. This will be a regular thing for me, and I will read again and again. Maybe next time I won’t wait till the night before to write the poem! And thank you, Jo, who helped motivate me to focus, engage and write, sometimes with a gentle nudge, sometimes not so gentle :). She’s a formidable artist and storyteller, as you can see here.
It’s not about the sunshine, it’s all about the shadows
And the spaces I can hide and drink
All those places I can read and think
Of all the thoughts I’ve had that day
And sit in quiet reflection till the sunshine goes away
It’s not about the sunshine, it’s all about the shapes
And the new places that light creates
The hidden spaces, sunbeams form and make
Like a fairy village or a dragon’s cave
Or a fiery ocean filled with light and diamonds for its waves
It’s not about the sunshine, it’s all about the warmth
And the way it soothes your pain
And how rainbows form in summer rain
Bringing joy and hope to saddened faces
Drying out the damp and lighting up the darkest spaces
It’s not about the sunshine, it’s all about the Starlight
And the spaces where Sol shines and lives
All the free energy it shares and gives
Every day it starts by shining, pushing back the night
Growing plants and trees, and sending warmth, is always a guiding light
It’s not about the sunshine, it’s all about the clouds
And the places they hold and host
That my eyes can see and then are lost
All those dabbled kingdoms where the angels fly
And where my imagination goes, on a sunny day, way up high
