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Wednesday, 17 June 2026

The Letter Of Hope

I wanted to write to you; in the here, and in the now

As if I was about to send you an early morning letter


I would like to tell you

Of the big blue skies

Of Lincolnshire

And to let you know

How peaceful it is

Out at Gibraltar Point

To walk on the salt marshes

To watch the sun rise

To watch the sun set

In between

To partake of tea and coffee

In the new visitor centre


I would like you to know

The inner workings of my mind

You know the sort of thing

How memories come and go

How the past works its wonders

To lead us into the present

And onwards to the future

I am fond of meditation

Quietly, in contemplation


I read works about the soul

Also the collective unconscious

I hope that doesn’t make me

Sound too too esoteric

It is not that

I have any deep calling

Yet it does interest me

To explore my own self

What makes me happy

What gives me contentment


And what of you

If you read this 

How might you reply

Would you tell me

Of the environment

And ambience

In your locale

Might you send me

Details of books

Which you have recently read

Or plays you have seen

At the theatre


And what of art

And those art galleries

Which you may have

The good fortune to visit

More especially though tell me

If you have walked on the sands

Or taken photographs

Of the wild roaring seas

And the majestic oceans


Yes, that kind of thing

Would appeal to me

It is important

Don’t you think

To feel to be alive

No matter how old

And grey we become


To be out in the elements

Brings me to life

To feel the wind and rain

To walk on fresh snow

To bask by the waves edge

In the heat of summer’s sun

To run down the sand dunes

Gasping for breath


I myself am reading memoirs at the moment

The Diaries of Anais Nin - Volume 5

Simone de Beauvoir’s All Said and Done

And Jonathan Stedall’s Where on Earth is Heaven

To name the most recent purchases of good fortune


Anais is evocative, sensual, speedy

No doubt she could lead me astray; 

Simone is thoughtful, and thought-provoking

She would have encouraged me

To sign up to her causes

Jonathan leads me to the films

Which he directed for the BBC


The ones on Jung, and Rudolph Steiner

I would particularly recommend

Yet his portraits of John Betjeman

Are as charming as is the man himself

A fine romantic poet

You can find 

Jonathan Stedall’s films on youtube

Just key his name into the browser


I was saddened very much

By a recent poem that I wrote

It is called Avoid And Abandon

I sincerely hope that it is not

A premeditated portent to the future

Better that the focus

As Thich Nhat Hanh says

Is mindful to reduce the suffering