By Eithne Cullen

In my previous pages looking at our theme of Change, I’ve featured writing about memory, faces and places and forgetting. For today’s page, I’ve asked people to send something about place and memory.

I’d like to start with a rather sentimental poem of my own, which examines the emotions we feel when we think of home.

No Place Like It

That truly delicious moment
when Dorothy Gale
clicks her heels
and mutters
“There’s no place like home.”
And no two people watching
think the same thought, feel the same feeling:
for some a chocolate box cottage
surrounded by foxgloves and rambling rose,
for some the tower block
buffeted by balcony breezes,
for some tents in a desert,
for some tin roofed houses in the outback,
for some walls carved from ice blocks,
or terraces on tops of hills,
or rooms in multi-occupancy houses,
or seeking change for a hostel, tonight;
displaced peoples yearning for that situation,
for some the smell of baking bread,
for some the smell of disappointment,
for some say never shed a tear for no place….

Yet in that moment – in every
home or cinema, there’s a ripple,
a nod, a shoulder shrug –
as she longs to go back
to the black and white world…
of the tumbledown farm in the dustbowl,
blown on the wind…
yet in that moment –  in every
home or cinema, there’s a ripple
a nod, a shoulder shrug –
that says, yes, no place like it.

© Eithne Cullen, 2022

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Here, Clara Khan remembers not only the physical school she passes but also the message she’s taken from her schooldays.

Proverbial Place

Every so often I drive past my old school, not for any particular need for nostalgia but because of circumstance. It’s an interesting experience; almost as if there is an invisible force field around it which if entered, transports you back to a time located at the peripheral of your memory. Life was arguably simpler, worries were non-existent and your world consisted of school and play. In between (school) work and play you are told proverbs about life which aim to prepare you for the world ahead and there is one in particular I want to focus on: You can do anything you set your mind to.

Its meaning is that anything can be achieved with the correct mind frame. In other words, you must truly believe it can be accomplished, no matter what. You must have an intention to not only do said action, but to do so sincerely, have a will and drive to continue in the face of adversity and a determination to reach the final goal. You must truly believe it can be done.

School is often the place where we first come across proverbs like this and, for some, it’s where they remain. As we emerge from the age of youth and enter the real world, proverbs become empty phrases, words void of meaning hidden behind the force field of bygone days. But there is a reason why these proverbs are told at school and will continue to be told: they are universal truths – tried and tested actions humankind has discovered throughout time. They are facts, certainties and reality and they should be treated as such. So, wherever you are in life, extract the proverb you value most and prop it up in the centre of your memory. You never know what could happen.

© Clara Khan, 2024

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Our second poem, from Isabelle Audiger, captures the urgency of holding onto memory as the seasons rush by.

Face Recognition

I am now reading time on your face
Squinting to be sure
Blinking in disbelief when I am

Your smile is still here though
And the twinkle in your eye
Your arm around my shoulders too

So, what is it?
The lightness of the air we breathe
The weightlessness of our moves

When I want to feel your body
Leaning against me
Happy, comfortable, contented

Sharing this lonely bench
A milky sky above our heads
The certainty of the river behind us

It’s summer
It’s time to collect memories
Memories to survive

Fall and its nostalgia
Winter and its pains
Spring and the beginning of hope

Let me read in your eyes again
Let me search on your lips
The strength
To forget for a while

The departure towards absence

© Isabelle Audiger, 2024

Connect with Isabelle on Facebook: facebook.com/isaudiger, X: x.com/isaudiger, Instagram: instagram.com/isabelleaudiger/, Website: isaudigerauteure.over-blog.com/ and on The Book Edition: thebookedition.com/fr/24418_isabelle-audiger

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Ange Wilson’s poem conjures up the passing of time, which reminds me a little of the saying: “Youth is wasted on the young.” We’d all like to recapture those days that have flashed by fast and free. The image by Farzad Sedaghat captures some of the breathlessness we experience in the poem.

Capturing Youth

I live in shapeless times
days merging into one another
particles of dust fill my mouth
each insipid spec choking my lungs
my breath is shallow no where to run
I’m so far away from years in the sun
where days flashed by fast and free
each molecule of blood pulsing with emotion
if only I could bottle up that time
then I would release it in front of me
and breathe in the air of those days
I hold my breath –
sadly, youth fails to understand its future.

© AJ Wilson, 2024

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The next two poems conjure up a sense of place, a sense of thinking about memory and how time passes. They are calm, evocative pieces which stir memories for the poets. Firstly, from Dan Janoff:

The Uninvited

From beyond my garden I hear soft chatter,
like a flock of geese who’ve seen off an intruder.

I climb the stairs to watch from the window,
from where I spy a ballooned number five.

It floats at the end of a string, glinting, golden
like glasses of bubbly held by deft fingers.

Uninvited, old memories flood into focus,
faded snaps, long hidden, a dusty worn shoe box.

By eternity’s measure, twenty years is a blink,
I gaze over the gulf, resigned to remember.

© Dan Janoff, 2024

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This poem comes from Amaka Obioji; the descriptions of the surroundings evoking the memory of the speaker’s mother.

Finding Calm

It is on a grey day like this, in this tired city, filled
with boisterous people littering in a dimly lit bar
that I remember my mother,
her words about cities and people in this city.

Of never having slow days, I wonder,
if it’s a crime to let my beer grow warm from the grip of my palm.
Or the guilt to sit and let the blackbirds for once
sing their songs to my ears.

I take a walk in Parsloes Park, and let my hands wander,
stroking the grass softened by morning dew.
I go where the wind leads me.
I do not seek to think where it will.
I take a walk to Goresbrook Park and listen to the guitarist
play Adele under the shimmering spring sun.

I remember my mother in these songs.
Children raising their feet into a run
as if the earth chases them underneath.

I look around me and this city fills
me with many dreams,
my belly aches from its fullness.

© Amaka Obioji, 2024

Connect with Amaka on Instagram: @amaka_felly

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My final piece is a description of a place, Jersey; a favourite place of the writer’s for quite a time, it seems. She shares her memories with us.  

Island Of Dreams

As writers, I’m sure most of us have at some time or other, come upon a favourite place that not only captures our hearts, but also inspires us to take up our pens and write. One such place for me is Jersey in the Channel Islands. Nestled just off the coast of France, this scenic, historic and quintessentially English group of islands primarily consist of Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, Alderney and Herm. My first experience of them came from nothing more than watching John Nettles in Bergerac on TV! But back in the late-80s, my husband’s parents returned from a holiday in Jersey and suggested we give the place a try, so we did – and we have returned many times since then.

The island of Jersey is only 45 square miles in size – that’s nine miles by five – and consists of 12 parishes, all named after saints, the principal being St Helier. When we first visited, we were immediately struck by the island’s beauty. Walking along its golden beaches, through quaint little villages and small bustling towns, unspoilt by commercialism and the march of progress, was like a breath of fresh air. It comes as no surprise that a place of such beauty and tranquillity has been a huge source of inspiration to poets and novelists alike.

Home to author and naturalist Gerald Durrell (1925 – 1995) for many years, the Jersey Zoo (also known as the Durrell Conservation Trust) absolutely won our hearts. An excerpt from my travel journal from our 2019 trip reads: Today was Zoo day. It is always one of the highlights of any Jersey holiday. It is a beautiful place and the work being done there to protect the futures of many species of endangered animal, bird and marine life is truly heart-warming.

On that visit, we also found an exhibition centre at the heart of the zoo applauding many of Mr Durrell’s literary and environmental achievements.

Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885), whose most famous works include Les Misérables and The Hunchback Of Notre-Dame lived in Jersey from 1852 until 1855. He then lived on Jersey’s sister island Guernsey for 15 years, where his home at Hauteville House in St Peter Port remains open as a museum.

It cannot be denied that Jersey’s picturesque scenery and gentle pace of life are wont to feed the writer’s and artist’s muse. With each of our dozen or so visits, I have come back with poems and observations of the place and one of my favourites is this from August 2015: Went on a boat trip this afternoon in the most perfect weather. Out by Corbiere Lighthouse, there was great excitement when we were joined by a family of dolphins! It was one of the most exciting experiences ever. The dolphins – we think a mum, dad and calf – frolicked around us for 20 minutes. It was amazing!

And that encapsulates Jersey perfectly!

© Jilly Henderson-Long, 2024

Connect with Jilly on LinkedIn: @jhendersonlong

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As summer draws to a close, we’ll be noticing the changes all around us. I’m already noticing the evenings drawing in. We’re lucky to have these changes of season; to see the changes and embrace them.

Eithne

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Issue 22 is out on 12 September. You will find it in libraries and other outlets. Alternatively all current and previous editions can be found on our magazines page here. 

You can hear great new ideas, creative work and writing tips on 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.  

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