September 15, 2024
Thanks so much to Karen Wheeler, of our Chichester service, for these pictures sent in after a client specified an interest in candle-making; the results look fabulous!
You’ll see that we’re in the process of rebuilding our site, and one of the new developments is that services and individuals who have contributed frequently in the past now have their own gallery page. If you don’t see yours there, it’s coming. If your service has not submitted anything creative to our site in the past, there’s no time like now to start! In the past couple of years we’ve received photographs, poetry & prose, crafts, paintings, drawings and cookery, all created by people who are supported by our charity, or who work for us. Occasionally we’ll come up with a theme to inspire you, but if you have anything creative you’d like to share, we’d love to see/hear it!
David Mitchell – RF Create.
June 1, 2024
This week, some more of your poems from the ‘Escapril’ challenge.
It feels like an odd thing to be writing on a bright, sun-drenched summer’s morning but there is something I’ve always found alluring about ‘fog’, the subject of some of this week’s selection. That ethereal sense of mystery, of something hidden. The haunting silence. The way Charles Dickens used ‘fog’ as a long extended metaphor for the ills of London. Our contributors have captured something evocative in their depictions of fog that almost makes me yearn for autumn and winter. I did say “almost.”
David Mitchell – RF Create.
Sand
Sandblasted and windlashed
We turn our faces inland.
Sea and sky
Are lead and ash and sombre slate,
Salt catches in our throats.
The goldenrod flecks in the pineapple ice cream
Are the brightest thing we’ve seen all morning,
And taste like pure sunshine.
SPANGLE FAIRY
Fog
Lethargic fog had begun to unfurl,
seeping from a crimson singularity.
From within,
two voices:
A world without birdsong
would be no good at all.
Would it be worse than a world
without the crunch of leaves
under foot in the fall?
Worse than that?
I’m afraid so…
Would it be worse than a world
without early winter mornings
with untouched snow?
Worse.
Far worse.
Worse than a world
without blackberries and hazelnuts?
Worse.
A world without ladybirds and butterflies?
Worse.
Without bluebells?
Worse.
Would it be worse than a world
Without stars?
No.
Not quite so bad as that.
There was silence for just a moment.
They were listening
to
the birds.
BIG BEN
Change of state
Out of the window
The world has all the potential
Of a blank canvas
Ready for daubing with footsteps.
The angels of this Renaissance
Paint with every shade of laughter
But make the most of it
While it lasts –
It’s only water after all.
– Spangle Fairy
May 15, 2024
Escapril has been a ‘thing’ on Instagram since 2019 – using a given prompt each day in April (provided by writer Savannah Brown) to see if you can create something short and sweet, long and neat, rough and bold – whatever comes. And this year, we had some wonderful entries from the RF community, using the hashtag #escapril.
See left and below for our first selection of those we received – enjoy!
– David Mitchell, RF Create
Trip
By Spangle Fairy
I was under the sea
And it was so fizzy and it was so bright and it was so funny
And the fish talked to me
And they were so noisy and they were so wise and they were so funny
And the coral sang to me
And it was so sweet and it was so pretty and it was so funny
And the whales danced with me
And they were so kind and they were so clumsy and they were so funny
And the crabs pinched at me
And they were so gentle and they were so colourful and they were so funny
And the water surrounded me
And it was so warm and it was so soft and it was so funny
Trip
By Emily
the tears run down my cheek
as we hug for the 20th time
‘are you sure you want to go?’
says my mother, her tears running too.
‘it’s the trip of a lifetime.’
but I leave my lifeline behind
lip quivering
I depart
I look back, tears streaming
she’s there waving me on
only a phonecall away
but miles apart
Trip
By Big Ben
From the thicket
beside the holloway,
you emerge.
Crouching for balance
you slide down its banks
to meet me with a gift.
_‘Looka this gurt stick I found!’_
We continue towards the Black Oak,
an unmissable pair.
Me, the shaman
or otherwise, a wizard –
coat billowing
behind midnight wind,
weathered staff
steadying us both.
You, the farmer of old –
nibbling at oilseed flowers
beneath your straw hat
as we walk.
May 8, 2024:
As spring finally begins to kick in after what has seemed like the longest ever winter, RF Create is feeling optimistic…. and creative! We’re hoping you are too.
Over the past year we’ve been giving you themes to help guide and inspire, but it occurred to us that many of you will have all kinds of creative stuff just ready to be shared that doesn’t necessarily fit a prescribed mould. So we’re throwing our metaphorical doors open and inviting you to share any poems, photos, paintings and drawings, craft, food, sounds or indeed anything you have created that you’d like others to see.
We know that some of you still love a little guidance, so don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten you! ‘Animals’ is your prompt for the next few weeks; it could be a photo of your favourite pet, something you’ve made, a piece of writing, a collage of animal noises set to a funky original track…there are no limits! I managed to capture this serene little robin (right) while on a walk in Clifton, Bristol.
And L.S. Sweeney, a volunteer with RF’s The Haven service in Lancashire, sent us a gorgeous poem which we’re delighted to share with you below.
David Mitchell, RF Create
