Rhyme & (sometimes) Reason

Send us Fan MailWhat was the first poem that you ever learnt? This week marks the fourth anniversary of my mother’s death and, for some reason, it has brought to mind poems that she loved and that I shared with her as a child. There is something strangely powerful, evocative, perhaps even reassuring, about rhythm and rhymes. Sometimes, it might be, that the rhymes become the reason. Journal entry:“28th May, FridayWe’re together again,  Hands deep in soil.  Planting seedlings Nurturing the earth, Coaxing life.A fine rain spangles the air.This feels good. And, when it comes down to it,  This is really all there is -      Tending the grounding         and helping it grow.”      Episode InformationIn this episode I read a number of poems. A.A. Milne:·         ‘Happiness’ (from When We Were Very Young. 1924 )·         ‘Come Out with Me’ (from Now We Are Six, 1927)  Kenneth Graham:·         Duck’s Ditty (from The Wind in the Willows, 1908) Walter de la Mare·         Nod (from The Listeners and other Poems, 1912) For a taste of cruising (at times) a very different type of waterway on East Anglian washes and levels, you might be interested in the recent episodes of Venessa’s vlog: The Mindful Narrowboat General DetailsIn the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. Piano interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.All other audio recorded on site. ContactFor pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPodI would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] the showBecome a 'Lock-Wheeler'Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.ContactFacebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon. For more information about Nighttime on Still WatersYou can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.