As the days approach Christmas, it seems to get busier for many of us. a rush of preparations and obligations, all aimed towards an uncertain climax. Today we have a lovely jewel of a poem from Hannah Caroe, written during a very different Christmas…
Following the tradition of calling in favours from family, Chris asked his son Will to record himself singing this re-written version of everyone’s old favourite carol ‘In the bleak midwinter’… Will (who is a trad music player in various bands) had sung this version previously and does a simply stunning version here, somehow more powerful in its stark urban simplicity.
He recorded it on his phone inside a Glasgow tenement flat which he and his girlfriend Rachel are in the middle of renovating. It has no kitchen or bathroom, but it does have a piano.
The words are below…
Bleak midwinter
.
What can I give him, wealthy as I am?
Does he need an i-phone or a well-aged Parma ham?
Should I bring him trainers, a pair of brand-new jeans?
Or Halo for the X-box (whatever the hell that means)
.
In a tower block in Camden, a woman breaks her heart
Her credit score is hopeless, her marriage fell apart
Her cupboards all lie empty, her clothes are wafer thin
Her kids can thank the food bank for turkey from a tin
.
If I were a kind man, I would bring good cheer
I would house the homeless, if for only once a year
I’d buy my cards from Oxfam, for virtue is no sin
I’d send some Christmas pudding to poor old Tiny Tim
.
In the bleak midwinter, frosty winds still moan
And Mr Wilson’s waited ages to get the council on the phone
He’s worried cos his boiler has given up the ghost
And since Mabel got dementia, she feels cold more than most
.
If I were a wise man, I would do my part
I’d sell that gold and incense and invest it for a start
In gilt-edged annuities and solid pension schemes
For without good fiscal planning, what can ever be redeemed?
.
In a lock-up by the roadside a bastard-child is born
To another teenage mother whose future looks forlorn
A host of heavenly angels up high in star-strewn sky
Sing blue-scale hallelujahs as lorries thunder by
Today we have a poetry reading for you – with a difference. This one features a conversation with the poet who wrote the poem back on day 7, and then some stunning poetry from an old friend…
From the show notes for this pod;
“This episode features two Australian poets- Talitha Fraser and Stevie Wills, and is the first of what we hope to be a more regular immersion in poetry, and the story behind the poems.
Stevie lives with cerebral palsy which has affected her speech patterns, so listen carefully, because hers is a voice worth listening to! She speaks movingly about her long powerful poem which tells Mary’s story. It is a stunning piece that she was keen to allow to stand on its own. We recommend checking out her website to see/hear more of her work!
https://www.steviewills.com.au/
Talitha is a long term Proost person, having been a key part of previous poetry collection curation. She is active within feminist spaces and activism for indiginous rights in her adopted city of Melborne, although she was born in NZ. You can find out more about Talitha and her other projects here;
https://linktr.ee/the.recollective
The conversation in this chat was a privilege to be part of. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.”
Today we get to watch a piece of art unfold as Michaela annotates a poem.
Today we have two different offerings…
The first is a brilliant vid by Joel Baker, made for a Grace service. Here is what Joel has to say;
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2
When reading a few verses / passages for inspiration this one really struck out at me.
As we come to the end of the year we reflect; pulling together end of year playlists, highlights and lowlights, miles run, walked and cycled, goals and achievements. But one thing I haven’t particularly wanted to reflect on is what’s going on in the wider world. It’s pretty depressing.
Sometimes it feels as if we are walking in darkness and could really do with seeing a light. This then was my visual response & exercise. By scraping various headlines from the past year or so, I tried to see if I could shine a light through the noise and give us something to hold onto as we move into 2025.
Joel used this music originally – you might like to swap it out; Ben Frost — Theory of Machines
Next, we have just released the Proost podcast number 13.
In this pod, we talk to Mark Kensett about his 40 year long career as a professional photographer and film maker. Mark has worked extensively in the West Bank and Gaza for different charities, and we wanted to hear about this work, and take the opportunity to reflect on the terrible events in the occupied terrorities.
It can be so hard to form a clear view. There is so much ‘information’ out there, along with counter-information that easily becomes tribal and sectarian. As the discussion was unfolding you can hear my attempts to resolve my own anger and sense of profound impotence and moral injury- fortunately Mark was able to bring clarity and grace to the conversation.
In the show notes we placed a lot of links which may be helpful as you seek to make your own journey into the complexity. Here they are;
You can see some of Mark’s work on his website here.
The Amos Trust website, featuring much of Mark’s work is here
Edukid is here
Mark mentioned this organisation and this book
… Mark’s photography inpiration is this man.
… and finally, Mark and his wife Liane are part of the Kairos movement.
An old favourite poem of mine. That line about transcendent squirrels always makes me smile…
Taken from the book ‘After the Apocalypse’.
Thanks once more to Yvonne, Will and Emily for the music, and Si for those images.
Joy 2
Joy is not a bauble
Not a bubble, too soon burst
Never manufactured cost effectively
It is not bought or sold
It is not gold
.
Joy is not a jacket
You pick from a handy peg, it is
Never something worn externally
It is always a surprise
Like sunrise
.
Joy requires no skill
Its practice is not taught
It is not being ‘happy’ or content
It is just being open, to the
Beautiful and broken
.
Joy is an ambush
Hidden in plain sight
Wrapped up in the most unlikely things
It often comes with grief, not even
Promising relief
,
Joy is a squirrel
Transcending a tree
It is music played directly on the spine
You do not need to look, because
It stabs you the gut
Today we have a prose poem by Tim Watson, who is in a burst of beautiful creativity just now… This piece takes shape around a different kind of urgent waiting.
In yesterday’s post, Jonny’s carol offered us the hope of a time when war will end… It is a hope we sorely need this advent, overshadowed as it is by the terrible events in the the Palestinian occupied territories known as The West Bank, and (of course) Gaza.
Next Tuesday, We will be releasing an interview on the Proost Podcast that Rob and I are doing with photographer Mark Kensett – one of our Proost community members – who has worked extensively in both the West Bank and Gaza with the Amos Trust, an organisation that many of you will already know.
Perhaps you might be willing to support the Amos Trust Christmas appeal?
Mark made this powerful video, full of hope and love.
Let this be our advent pause for the day.
Today we have a brand new carol from Jonny Baker… I think he intends to get into a studio and record it, but for now offers this quick recordning along with an accompanying vid by Jon Birch.
I will also include sheet/chords for it here.
This is what Jonny had to say about how the carol came in to being.
I was inspired reading Isaiah 9 and in particular the imagery of verse 5:
The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.
In a world with so much brutality and violence the image of a fire burning army boots and clothes of war struck a chord and a deep sense of advent longing for another possible world. That turned into lyrics for a carol or advent hymn ‘Smoke is rising’. The last verse is quoting Arundathi Roy which many of you will recognise. Niall Dunne has written what I think is a beautiful melody. This came about through a chance conversation at CMS (Niall has started the undergrad pioneer training this year). I’d love any reactions to it. Even more I’d love any of you to try it out and lead it. Let me know how you get on if you do though it’s a bit late possibly for this year now. I imagine it with a huge church or choir but I don’t have one of those!
My sister Ruth kindly has written out the melody and chords. I should add that the guitar tuning is DADGAD which sounds lovely. Hopefully you can work out what I am doing from the video if you go that route and like me are not used to that. That’s how I learned it from Niall. I should say I am singing it a bit lower than Niall as I struggled to reach the top note in F. Ruth has written chords in F and in D and unhelpfully I am playing it in E flat!
I have not had the time or kit to record it properly so this is recorded on a phone – thanks to Jon Birch for his steady hand (and gorgeous lounge). Maybe this will spark a new project?!
And double thanks to Jon who was inspired to make a movie loop of a fire of army boots and clothes of war which you can watch and download. When I have done the song (the sum total of one time so far) I have projected lyrics over that video looping which is pretty evocative. Jon was one of the founders of proost with me (and Aad) so it felt great to collaborate for this proost advent series.
Another brilliant vid/poem from Tim Watson…
this fragile tent 