Hello again. I’m Lisa Scully-O’Grady, a writer with an interest in creativity and how we can use it to heal both ourselves and others. Welcome to my fourth and final instalment of our Showcase on the theme of ‘Change’. This week, I’m weaving caring for the planet into caring for our hearts, as September 29 is Heart Awareness Day, a global initiative raising awareness of cardiovascular disease and I’ve chosen the perfect pieces for you.

The earth, also referred to as Gaia – Mother Earth –  is our bodies’ home, while our hearts are often referred to as our spiritual home. In Japanese, ‘Kokoro’ can mean heart home, or the place of the heart, mind, spirit. We need to take care of both to stay in balance.

Earth is the beating heart of our existence without which none of us would be able to exist, while our hearts keep our earthly bodies alive and functioning optimally.

The earth grows our food and our hearts needs nourishing food. Everything is connected and interdependent, just as every cell is renewed and changed.

Humans are not the only inhabitants of the earth. Our animal friends and foes alike play important roles in our lives and the planet’s ecosystems.

This first piece, an essay, is all about change relating to our earthly home, the environment. It helps to put our present predicament into perspective by looking at the past. What lessons can we learn that might help us going forward and finding solutions? What role do we have as writers and creatives in bringing forward our ideas into the wider world? Time is of the essence. There is never a better time than right now!

Stronger Storms, Rising Seas: Is The Lost City Of The Atlantis Legend Our Fate?

In 360 B.C., the Greek philosopher Plato wrote of a sunken city underwater. In 2015, the streets of Kirkstall Road in Leeds flooded. Right now, Venice is sinking as we speak. It seems as though humanity has met the wrath of global warming once again.

In December 2015, Boxing Day was cut short for Azram Chaudry, as that was the day his South Asian restaurant, Sheesh Mahal, became an aquarium: his pots, pans and menus floating in water that almost touched the ceiling. Though used to flooding in the cellar kitchens, this time Azram realised he’d need more than sandbags to help him.

Storm Eva’s heavy downpour had caused the River Aire to burst its banks, unleashing murky water into Leeds city centre and Kirkstall. More than 2,600 homes and 700 businesses were damaged. The flood’s rampage cost Azram £300,000, with his restaurant needing to close for 15 months. Luckily, Team Kirkstall, a local flood clean-up service, came to the rescue – not only helping Azram, but also, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, 180 other businesses.

In 360 B.C., Plato wrote of an advanced and powerful civilisation that inhabited the city named Atlantis. Its people became greedy and immoral, forcing the gods to destroy the island by unleashing catastrophic earthquakes. This legend appears to be repeating itself, the muddy water in Azram’s restaurant an example of our own greed for money. Climate change triggered by the concerning amounts of greenhouse gases big business is still spouting into the air, is having a huge impact on our world. Not least, causing heavy rainfall and floods.

Even though to some it may seem like a hopeless cause, others are doing their best to make a difference. Adair Turner, Chair of the Energy Transmissions Commission, is one such person. Several months ago, he stood behind a busy crowd at the COP 28 Summit in Dubai, unbuttoning his collar as he joined CGTN in an interview.

“One thing I hope will be achieved,” he said to news journalist Jamie Owen, “is that we put clearly on the table, the issue of the use of fossil fuels.” The Conference Of The Parties (COP) is an annual meeting set up by the United Nations to check the progress of climate change. Turner focuses his attention on the future and he believes the only way to achieve progress is: “By large reductions in fossil fuel use.” The summit established an aim to achieve a 55- 70% reduction in gas use, an 85-90% reduction in coal use, and an 85-90% reduction in oil use by 2050. But are we taking action to achieve this?

In July of 1887, Professor James Blyth built the first windmill to generate electricity in Glasgow, Scotland. His turbine-like design involved four cloth sails, supposedly powering his home for 25 years. Wind turbines today, however, are much taller and more mechanical than Blyth’s first design. Their three metal blades are spun by the wind, turning a shaft connected to a generator, providing us with electricity. In the first quarter of 2023, wind power provided 32.4% of the UK’s electricity, with natural gas a close contender at 31.7%. Since wind is an unlimited resource, it’s a renewable energy that is more sustainable than fossil fuels. Despite its benefits, some dislike this alternative energy, with their main concern being its harm to birds.

Adair quotes Adam Farrer’s memoir, Cold Fish Soup, a series of essays reflecting on Farrer’s life. In a chapter titled Consider The Birds, a protest breaks out in Withernsea with a crowd chanting, “WHAT DO WE WANT? NO WIND FARMS!” Farrer’s mother is shouting with them and telling her son: “The turbines are killing them!” With examples like this, it’s understandable therefore that Adair Turner finishes the interview by talking about how education is needed to support the implementation and positive perception of alternative energy.

Despite various methods to combat rising sea levels, flooding is still a major issue. Every year between October and January, Venice is submerged by Acqua Alta, a Venetian term translating to high waters as cafes, hotels and pathways are flooded. A paper published in the non-profit journal Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS) predicts Venice will be completely submerged in water by 2100.

As we continue to dismiss the issue, raising painted signs of birds and spilling smoke into the air, more people see the consequences. If we don’t change our perception, we will be dining with Venice and the Atlanteans on the ocean floor very soon.

© Alec Bullett, 2024

Connect with Alec on Instagram: @_alechaye_

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This second piece, a poem, is evocative of how we must trust the changes in the seasons, that the seeds will grow and the other creatures that inhabit the earth, such as this horse by itself in the field, will have plenty to eat come spring. It’s a beautiful image of animal and human learning to trust in nature and in each other.

Lessons In Trust

Part 1 – Spring

A few months ago
I planted sticks for spring
Carefully dug and mulched in
Dead looking twigs

How they look dormant and near death
And how
Despite their appearance
Many of these magnolia trees
Will burst forth into beguiling scented beauty
Come spring

I prayed to Lakshmi
Let me find the words of mud and beauty
And the necessity of opposites

I prayed for words
That they had not left me
(They have not arrived in the night as they used to)

Part 2 – He arrives

I do not look it directly in the eye
Although I can feel the words blowing out of flaring nostrils
Hot excited air on my neck
I stand very still
He rests his chin on my shoulder
And the weight of his head
I reach up
Taking his face in my hands
Whorls are galaxies in his forehead
I turn
Bringing his chest to mine
Hearts thumping together
Until I step back and
He spins and gallops away
Mud splatters me from his hooves.

(c) Nicola Ibbotson, 2024

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This third piece, a short story, was written as part of Heart Month to increase awareness of heart conditions in society. September 29 is World Heart Day in the UK. After all, where would we be without our hardworking, taken for granted, precious little hearts that work day-in-day-out without a second thought from us?

Statistic Becomes An Ending And Beginning

Tristan and Jenny had been married for three years and were expecting their first baby. He came to say goodbye as he headed out to his Saturday football training.

Tristan was welcomed straight onto the pitch. It was a November morning, so the air was thick and the cold lingered on the pitch. All went well and he was in place for an early goal. He was in top form, running up and down the pitch. He had a clear run, so he went for it. He was ready to take the shot. Sharp pain in his chest. Blackout. Everything went dark. Tristan fell to the ground.

The referee approached. Tristan was motionless. The coach tried to rouse him. No movement. He called for help. The first aider, John, ran onto the pitch and confirmed: no heartbeat. The ambulance was called and CPR commenced. John asked for a defibrillator, but there wasn’t one. The statistics: In the UK someone dies from a heart or circulatory condition every three minutes. Was this going to be a reality for him?

Tristan heard the beeping of machines and couldn’t recall how he got here. Jenny explained how he was brought in and how he’d been revived after suffering a cardiac arrest. The words didn’t seem real. He kept thinking, ‘I’m young.’ The doctor came in and explained what had happened and how lucky he was to be alive. How could this have happened to him? Old people have heart problems!

That’s when the doctor started explaining about heart conditions that are present from birth and how his hadn’t been picked up. Then the statistic: Congenital heart disease is one of the most common types of birth defect, affecting almost one in 100 babies born in the UK. Suddenly, the realisation that their baby could be affected. The question was anticipated and addressed immediately, that a scan would be done as soon as their baby was born.

This was the beginning of a healthy lifestyle and the campaign to equip the local clubs with a defibrillator, alongside the realisation of September 29 being World Heart Day. How had Jenny and Tristan been oblivious to all the campaigns? It’s often easy to ignore things that don’t touch us, but they were going to make sure they did their bit. Every year, on this day, September 29, they campaign for charities that support patients with heart disease.

© Dr Afsana Elanko, 2024

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My final piece, another poem, transports us perfectly from the fullness of midsummer to the hibernation of winter, when we look forward to restful, renewal and reflective times to get us through to New Year and the beginning of a new cycle.

Solstice Poem

Solstice. The evening distils to stillness
and small movements; lowering orange sun;
breeze rippling green-gold through barley;
dust drifting over path’s dry ground.

Amidst such indistinctness, your camera
shutter clicking was a clean straight edge
imprinting the light onto film coiled tight
which I thought then a foolish act

But now, when summer’s bleached remains
lie within winter, barley field bare,
tightening, tautening beneath ragged hillsides
I am grateful for the camera.

For how it summons that summer’s night
back into a form of being, these words
the shadows that stretched out behind us
growing, receding, leaving ground untouched.

© Ned Vessey, 2024

Connect with Ned on Instagram: @nedvesseywriting and via their website: nedvesseywriting.wixsite.com/website

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That’s it from me. It’s been a real pleasure to bring these thought-provoking pieces to you over the past four weeks. I look forward to meeting you again on the page, in springtime or beyond. In the meantime, keep dreaming and creating in the seasons of change ahead. Be the healer of your own life!

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Connect with Lisa Scully-O’Grady on X and Instagram: @letters_home_again

If you’d like to see your writing appear in the Write On! Showcase, please submit your short stories, poetry or novel extracts to: pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/

Hear extracts from Showcase in our podcast. Write On! Audio. Find us on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Google Podcasts and Spotify. Type Pen to Print into your browser and look for our logo or find us on Spotify for Pocasters.

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