The October meeting of Spiderplant was like walking on fresh green grass with bare feet. Martin Wild was a riveting speaker treating us to a combination of poetry readings and a media presentation, interspersed with episodes from his faith journey. He told us he was the third of eig
ht siblings brought up in a Catholic background. He switched his denomination when his daughter started attending an Elim church.
In 2001 he attended a five day workshop on performance poetry and it changed the direction of his life. He wrote his first collection of poetry in 2011, writing one poem for each book of the bible. He did not allow himself to go out of the sequence of the bible books which demanded a high level of self-discipline. This collection was republished under the title "From Start to Finish" in 2017.
In 2018 he published the next collection of poems with the Christian publisher Onward & Upward. "Gospels in Harmony". His joy of writing took Martin deeper into scripture.
During lockd
own he started working with a story telling group. Poetry is like making a special meal, where the chef distils the flavours. The poet distils the essence of words in his poem.
The devotional was offered by Rosalie. She focussed on the book of Jeremiah pointing out how full of images this book of the bible is. Well-known images are of the strip of linen (13: 1-11) and the broken clay pot. However the most memorable for Rosalie was the picture of the two baskets of figs. The good one depicting someone doing what God has set out. The basket of bad figs denoting what happens if you
ignore God's will. The picture was given to Syd when they went to South Africa.
Member's slot: Fay described two of her books "God is with us everywhere" is a rhyming Nativity story published last year. "So You've Finished Writing. Now what?" is her latest book which covers the whole cycle through editing to publication.
The member's challenge was taken up by everyone this time. Write a poem on Nature or The Natural World. The collection will be sent under separate post.
The next meeting is Saturday 18 December 2021.
Comments