Month: June 2018

Small boat, big seas.

~ peppyulyett ~ Leave a comment

In roiling seas I’d wished I’d skirted –

harbour-seeking all perverted –

the passage to that still horizon

reels me, and my soul is siphoned

down into deep briny troughs.

But though my fears are in the buff

I’ll hunker in the hull of this coracle

and trust it’s buoyant beams arborical.

Inspired by a talk by Adrian Plass, delivered with his usual wisdom and compassion. I am now in a safe harbour, but I remember well the scary voyages I’ve been flung out on. I am now grateful for having experienced what it is to be in a small boat in big seas, and for learning to trust the steersman.

For those still out on choppy waters, know that there are harbour lights shining out for you.

Fruit shoots

~ peppyulyett ~ Leave a comment

I had such zest and energy

a new skin of sweet piquancy.

‘Don’t take the pith!’ I pled and cried

‘Don’t pare me from ekklesia’s side.’

Uncommon people pulped me down

Sapped me – but, was then I found

out flowed a fresh vitality.

The juice is worth the press and squeeze.

Discarded flesh all crushed and dripped

had composted unwanted pips.

These new shoots – they may be minute

but promise, from the hulls, new fruit.

CROSSED THE RUBICON

~ peppyulyett ~ Leave a comment

No more shall we be woe-begone,

not since we crossed the rubicon!

Habeus corpus – no unicorn?

That horny time is purged.

The test is always by the fruit,

and moral tales we shall impute.

Our time of ripening (from deep roots)

will sap the bitter urge.

Laughter transports poignancy

and gives the message buoyancy.

A vision, in ascendency,

helps scale the learning curve.

It’s not a stage we’re going through –

we’ve got a solid platform to

reach up, reach out, and show them truths

where light and love converge.

I had thought that being under the umbrella of a spiritual institution was important, but found toxicity there which in turn hindered our creative expression. Not how it should be of course, but there it is. During this time someone ruefully joked that a unicorn must have been slain to account for the gossip there. In fact this mythic murderess was cleared; the ‘body of evidence’ proved unsubstantiated. Not so for someone else in the end though.

Standing for truth and justice sapped our energy, but once done we found a new lease of life. Our puppetry is physical, visually dynamic, and fun, and always with a moral message in the content – so the audience has something good to take away from it. It is part of what has been healing for us as we move on. This poem was written to celebrate liberation from that hard time, and mark the longed-for independence for our performing arts work.