Friday 4 July 2008

Guest Blogger: Fiona Robyn


I am delighted to able to welcome Fiona Robyn, author of Small Stones: A Year of Moments as a guest blogger today. We share a similar philosophy on life and I hope you can take the time to check out her book and her blog.

Over to Fiona...


According to Steve, everything isn't shit. I happen to agree. I know because I try to look at things closely. I try to see at least one thing properly every day, and the result is my www.asmallstone.com blog and book. And when you look at something up close, putting your nose into peonies, listening hard to chaffinches, concentrating on the cold feel of the wooden floor against the soles of your feet, then they are definitely not shit. Sometimes the things I notice make me feel sad, or annoyed, or disgusted. More often than not they make me feel grateful, or curious, or fill me with awe. They are just ordinary things. And they are also all extra-ordinary. The only difference between something being shit, and something being rich and juicy and full of complexity, is how much attention we pay it. I call each of my daily mini-observations a 'small stone'. I hope my blog (or my book if you feel like treating yourself) will help you to notice your own small stones. Slow down - they're all around you!

--------------------------

Do you ever find yourself rushing through your days with no time to pause and look around you? Do you pay attention to the smell of your coffee? Do you notice pigeons gulping from puddles?


This book contains 365 'small stones' - bite-sized truffles of poetry celebrating the extraordinary in the everyday and the ordinary. It will remind you to slow down and engage with your own world, because right here and right now is where the wonder is.


----------------------------

11 month old Florence says look!
every ten minutes there is something new to fill her up with awe

*


She jumps off her bike and knocks the girl over, shouting and kicking her in the head and stomach. Men step in, pull them away from each other. Just further on, a pink pool of cherry blossoms lie under a naked tree. I pick one up, as if it might help. It has no scent. The tissue-thin petals are as soft as the soles of a baby’s feet.


*


today I saved the life of a pocket-sized mouse -
he had twitching whiskers and trembled in my hand

*


papery pink pea-blossoms hover over the green of the field like stopped butterflies

*


the moon is so transparent you could slip a thumb-nail under the edge and peel it from the sky

1 comment:

Unknown said...

sounds promising sk