It’s only a week until Christmas Eve, so I think we all deserve a little Christmas Bonus, and what better form to receive it in than these beautiful words from the wonderful Rachel Wiggans.
Sometimes
all that matters
is the light
you think you can see.
I haven’t known Rachel long. She used to work with Luci, but over the last few months she has made that magnificent safari from friend-of-a-friend to friend, and a valued and respected one at that. We’ve seen several plays and performances together, including one so breathtaking that, almost speechless at the final curtain, we took the only available option of a trip to Wetherspoons, a glass of wine and a long and happy conversation about everything we had just witnessed, and so much else. Luci wasn’t there that night, as she was (literally) delivering her new baby niece, so it gave Rachel and I a chance to thoroughly get to know each other. It was one of the nicest evenings I’ve had all year.
Anyway, I’m going to hand over to Rachel (who also took the accompanying photo) to say a few words herself, because – as usual – she puts it far better than I could:
“Like so many of us I am reeling at the dark pit we have communally decided to throw ourselves into. Alongwith the personal darkness that besets many people at this time of year, it is easy to feel desperate. We must not. We have been here before. Our eyes will adjust to the dark and we will see enough to carry on. We have to seek out the glimmers and share them. I don’t yet know where we will find them but we will.”
If you are also looking for a glimmer – or wish to be that glimmer for someone else – you can still donate to help the heroic folk at Crisis in their invaluable work with people suffering homelessness. We’ve bust through the £350 barrier this week, which is greater than I could ever have hoped, but there’s still time to push it even higher and make an even larger difference to some of the most vulnerable in our society. Thank you.
And thank you Rachel. Eight days to go.
Owen x
The Poetry Advent Calendar 