Anthology Alert (8): Tiger, Tiger (A project to help the WWF)

Do you have a tiger poem waiting to pounce?

Many of us will have had our first encounter with the 'tiger in the wild' rather than with the 'tiger in the cage' through the powerful and mesmerising words of William Blake's poem, 'The Tyger'. This was certainly one of the earliest poems (as opposed to nursery rhymes) to make a lasting impression on me.

Perhaps there is a tiger poem in you, waiting to leap out on to the page. Helen Calcutt, Peter Tinkler and David Calcutt of The Written Image are preparing an illustrated 'Tiger, Tiger' poetry anthology to raise funds for the WWF Save the Tiger appeal.

If you would like to have a submission of tiger poetry or artwork considered for this inspiring project, you will find the submission guidelines here. The final deadline is drawing ever closer!  Everyone is invited to respond to the appeal, whether you are a poet, artist or tiger supporter. 

Perhaps you would like to endorse the project by sending a donation to the World Wildlife Fund's campaign to 'save the tiger'. You will find details here (with excellent video clip), and I know The Written Image has a project target of £500. At present, 3200 tigers remain in the wild.

Key Points:

• Submission Details
• Donation (through the 'Tiger, Tiger' project to the WWF 'Save the Tiger' appeal)
• The Tiger, Tiger blog
• The Tiger, Tiger website

Happy writing! Unleash the tiger . . .

 P.S. Members of The Written Image may be familiar to you through their recent anthology, 'Bugged'.

Window on Wildlife (14): Caretta caretta

My 'turtle' photo

I was writing one of my 'turtle' cards this afternoon when I came across the term, 'Caretta caretta', in the latest issue of The Dawntreader (Indigo Dreams Publishing).

I was delighted when I found this poem, 'The Lost Egg of Caretta caretta', on the web. The ecological forum belongs to the Katelios Group, which concerns itself with sea turtles, the environment and volunteers in Kefalonia (of 'Mandolin' fame). 

I thought you might like to take a look at my turtle photo, which graced the card I was writing earlier. The picture was taken a little way round the Peloponnesian coast from Pylos (of Homeric fame). The strange thing is that I was pretty convinced that the Caretta caretta sea turtle had eluded us on our week-long Greek Odyssey. . . until I uploaded the photo above on our return to Wales.

Do YOU see a turtle there? Sometimes I wonder if there are two . . .

Green Moment (1): Organic Fortnight - and the Eden Project

Welcome! | Croeso!

This post is part of
Crafty Green Poet's Blogfest
to mark the Soil Association's
ORGANIC FORTNIGHT
3-17 September 2010

Thank you,
Juliet,
for arranging this enterprise.

"It is poetic that a china clay pit, so Cornish in essence, has been given another life.
It is a constant source of inspiration for me and continues to get better and better.”

Anthony Eyton R.A.
Artist in Residence,
The Eden Project

I wonder when you last had a 'green' moment.

I vividly recall my first visit to the Space Age biomes
of the Eden Project in Cornwall, back in 2002.
The structures alone were impressive.

However, I was particularly struck by the 'recycling work'
that had given the old China Clay pit a new lease of life
as a place in which people could come to enjoy themselves
and learn a great deal about the world around them.

The colours of the plants were vibrant.
The scents were intoxicating.
You could feel droplets of humidity on your skin.
The organic coffee in the café was delicious.
Birdsong resounded through the jungle!

I was so captivated by Eden that I came home and wrote a long (semi-fantasy semi-autobiographical) poem about my visit, under the tutelage of Susan Richardson, as part of a Disability Arts Cymru project. The poem, 'The Cheerful Chocoholic Woman Goes Exploring', was published in Hidden Dragons | Gwir y Grymus (Parthian Books 2004).

The poem revolves around my (imaginary) Biome conversation with a Praying Mantis (and here), who makes me appreciate the qualities of our fragile earth in a new light - as you will see from the following quotation:

He tells her all about the concept of fair trade,
about sustainable forests and water aid.
‘I have seen lots of wonders, but it’s time to depart,’
sighs the chocoholic woman, with a burdensome heart.
‘I envy those Aztecs with their cocoa bean brew,
mixed with spice from the chilli to warm them right through!’

The Chocoholic Woman finally arrives home, flinging 'chocoholic chippings' from her 'chocoholic heels', only to discover with a sense of panic that the 'snowy peaks of chocolate treats' beside her favourite chair are not, in fact, organic...

You may like to read about:

• The Eden Project Real Cool Futures Project, with a case study on Clio Turton who has worked as a manager at the Press Office of the Soil Association.
• The Eden Project Blog
• The Eden Project Shop (how about some Christmas present ideas?)
• Why Organic? - from the Soil Association
  

If chocolate is your thing, you may like:

• Divine
• The Divine Chocolate Blog
• The Divine Deep Dark Chocolate Competition (still time to enter)

If you enjoy poetry, you may like:

• The winning poems of the 2009 Divine Chocolate Writing Competition (judge, Anthony Horowitz)
• Organic Poetry (N.B. this site is about organic - or free-form - writing, rather than organic produce)
• An obituary (1994) in The Independent for Jack Clemo, who found inspiration in the china clay pits.

Enjoy Organic Fortnight ...

and don't forget to visit
Crafty Green Poet

and

here

the other participating blogs, linked to the site.

And finally ... if you like the thought of a Praying Mantis, you may enjoy Naquillity's post about a Walking Stick here.

Carnival Time (8): Guardian Hay Festival

More Images
from the Guardian Hay Festival 2010

N.B. Wordle to right...

Above
The Wiggly Worm Garden
'Relax Explore Learn Enjoy'
Wiggly Wigglers is an award-winning natural garden company

Above and below

Magnetic Butterflies
winging messages from individuals
in the SkyArts Tent

We had fun decorating our butterflies...
... and even more fun trying to get them to stick to the mesh on the roof!

Below

The 'Second Poetry Jamboree' Banner

Below

The Swimming Reindeer

Late Magdalenian, approx. 12,500 years old.
Provenance: rock shelter of Montastruc, Tarn et Garonne, France
British Museum

We so enjoyed the inspirational event by Neil MacGregor,
Director of the British Museum,
on his Radio 4 series,
'A History of the World in 100 Objects'

After the talk we were able to handle a few objects, like this remarkable piece.

All in all, it was a great day out...
and even the weather was glorious!

• BBC on the programme
• Times Online about the series
• The book is coming...
• Add your object... (as Andrew Motion does)
  

Conservation Corner (5): Green Zoos - wild, woolly and poetic

(These flamingos are not in the zoos mentioned,
but I thought their stately poses resembled poetic installations!)

A number of wild animals are to share their USA zoo quarters with installation works of poetry to raise awareness of wildlife conservation. The project, under the auspices of the Poets' House, is called The Language of Conservation. Poets' House, the national literary centre and poetry library in New York City, has teamed up with five zoos in New Orleans, Milwaukee, Little Rock, Jacksonville, and Chicago.

A $1 million National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services has helped the project to get off the ground. You can read more about it here and here. There is a great photograph of Mark Doty sharing a poetic moment with an elephant at Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Little Rock Zoo is one of the institutions taking part.

Beautiful Birds (21): Gower Gyr-ations at Rhossili

Rhossili Down
is just behind the beach, off the photo to the right.
The visible wreck is the Helvetia.
Worm's Head is off the photo to the left.

There has been a further Gyr Falcon sighting in the Gower region. You can read about the Gyr here, with a great photograph, too.

• Earlier Gyr sighting, last Christmas in South Wales
  

Conservation Corner (4): Triffids? - Swansea's Japanese Knotweed Problem

The tricky issue of how to treat the swathes of Japanese Knotweed in Swansea has received coverage in the press. It is very hard to know the responsible way forward on this issue.

You might care to read the following blog posts, with links to the newspaper coverage:

• Professor P. Brain's blog (and here)
  
• Gower Wildlife (on a more cheerful note, how lovely to find a record of the first West Glamorgan sightings of Swallow and Sand Martin in 2010.
  

Conservation Corner (3): Lady Scott, wife of Sir Peter

Photo: David Gill
Swans above WWT Llanelli at Penclacwydd

You can read my short tribute to Lady Philippa Scott, widow of the conservationist, Sir Peter, here.

P.S. I saw my first Fieldfare on Gower yesterday. It was part of a flock, but the others were on the wing and I was (the passenger) in a moving car. A flash of 'golden green' and scarlet flew past my window this morning in the watery sunlight. It is the first time I have seen a Green Woodpecker up here.

Conservation Corner (1): Wild Flower Garden

My River of Wild Flowers

Back on 1 January 2009 I blogged about my New Year Resolution to have my own small river of wild flowers in my garden. My 'river' is more like a tiny trickle; but due to the cold weather, the rain and the slugs, my crop has not been as prolific as it might have been. Nonetheless the survivors have brought some lovely colours to my garden and have provided food for insect life. I would hope to plant a similar crop again next year, but wonder how I can stop the slugs without resorting to unorganic means.

We now have a Wild Flower Centre on Gower: I shall have to go exploring...