3 months + Ruth Padel

I recently discovered the anthology The Poem and the Journey, compiled by British poet Ruth Padel. I've been busy writing my first Watson quarterly report (due today), but wanted to share some interesting quotes from the opening portion of the book.

“Poetry’s effects are inward and personal. It is still what it has always been, a necessary art, enriching what goes on privately inside us through our lives. It fortifies our inwardness. And so it is the ideal thing to hang on to, in our very externally driven world of image and screen, surface and soundbite” (Padel, xi).


“In life, too, poems and journeys go together. Both move. Both take a bit of time and effort. Both let you reflect on other things as you go. Both can upset and surprise you. There may be boring moments; or moments that seem boring at the time though afterwards you realize they were crucial. Both give you new windows on the world, take you out of yourself but let you more deeply into yourself at the same time. They get you to new places”(3).

I've officially survived the first three months of my Watson! Now, off to finish my report.

Inspector Morse Country

Happy October!

My computer isn't fixed just yet, so I'm borrowing a computer that my dad brought up for me to use in the meantime. Hopefully my dad will be able to fix my computer and resurrect all the poems I've written up until this point.

I'm currently writing from Oxford, also known as Inspector Morse Country. How many of you know who Inspector Morse is? I honestly didn't until a week ago when I moved into my rental flat and found a book about Inspector Morse and Oxford (Morse Country). Morse is a fictional character originally from a series of detective novels, later developed into a TV series. Wikipedia's description of the detective reads: "With a Jaguar car (originally a Lancia), a thirst for beer, intellectual snobbery and a penchant for Wagner, Morse presents a likeable persona, despite his sullen temperament." Sounds like Corey, right? (Kidding!) Anyway, I've been teased nonstop ever since it was revealed that I had no idea who he was. But, I'm quickly learning all about the detective and his favorite Oxford haunts. For example, one of the pubs he frequented, the Eagle and Child on St. Giles, was also a favorite of writers J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

Prior to Oxford, I was in London for two weeks. My parents took two extremely long plane rides to come and visit, but I'm glad they did. It was fun being able to play tourist for a few days and be introduced to a city at the same time as my parents. None of us had ever been to London before and my parents had never even visited Europe, so it was a memorable and exciting trip. It wasn't only to visit their lonely, vagabond daughter on her Watson, but also to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Happy 25th anniversary, mom and dad! I'll blog more about their trip in a bit.

I'm renting a flat right along the Thames river or as the locals call it, the Isis. After months of living on the go and out of a suitcase, it's so nice to have a place that's solely my own! I even have a little patio that faces the river. It's very conducive to writing, so on the whole, Oxford will hopefully be the perfect place to spend the next two months. I will be using Oxford as my "home base" while I go and explore other parts of the countryside. Particularly, the Lake District, which inspired Wordsworth and Coleridge (among others)! I will definitely be heading north up to Yorkshire to attend the Ted Hughes poetry festival slated for October 22nd-25th. If anyone knows any other places or poets I should look into, let me know! I want to get on some buses and go exploring.. there's also a plethora of poetry-related events going on in London. Particularly at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden, London (which I will also blog more about at some point).

One of the biggest and oldest bookstores in town is Blackwell. It beats all the other bookstores (Borders, Waterstones, etc) since it has its very own "Poetry Corner" filled with all these hard-to-find books like special UK versions of Li-Young Lee collections. I've signed up for one of their famous Oxford literary walking tours tomorrow and will let you know how it goes. Other than that, I've just been relaxing and winding down with lots of reading. I finally finished "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" (I highly recommend it), so am looking for a new book. Oh, and I also started running. The river is right there and the pain is less real when you're running alongside something so pretty!

I took these photos of the Thames when I came back from town today. It was already past dusk, but the sky had this deep purple glow to it. To end, here's some Ted to celebrate October and the first inklings of autumn:

October Dawn

October is marigold, and yet
A glass half full of wine left out

To the dark heaven all night, by dawn
Has dreamed a premonition

Of ice across its eye as if
The ice-age had begun its heave.

The lawn overtrodden and strewn
From the night before, and the whistling green

Shrubbery are doomed. Ice
Has got its spearhead into place.

First a skin, delicately here
Restraining a ripple from the air;

Soon plate and rivet on pond and brook;
Then tons of chain and massive lock

To hold rivers. Then, sound by sight
Will Mammoth and Saber-tooth celebrate

Reunion while a fist of cold
Squeezes the fire at the core of the world,

Squeezes the fire at the core of the heart,
And now it is about to start.

-Ted Hughes