Poetry and walk

It’s been raining for the past week. I shouldn’t be surprised, it is England after all and I’ve been here for long enough to know. So I knew, yesterday, when sunshine decided to appear, that I had to grab it by the arm. I live in a town that doesn’t have much for entertainment besides my local park and, not being too far from London, thought I’d have a little day out.

I recently discovered that there’s a National Poetry Library, very central and by the riverside. The rivers, the seaside, the lakes, the ponds, the streams, the canal sides, they always tend to be my favourite places in any new city, so spending the day by the river so visiting this library sounded like a perfect day out.

I don’t like being enclosed, surrounded by people spaces, but when being outdoors, walking by the river Thames, the amount of people doesn’t feel claustrophobic anymore, but cathartic. Families with their kids, frolicking in the winter sun, friends that meet up to catch up after a long time… or maybe they’re just getting to know each other? people on dates, people busking and maybe people like me, enjoying their own company, walking at their own pace, stopping at street markets and cafés and looking around, noticing how big the world can be with so many people living their lives.

The literal word is too restrictive, it doesn’t matter how many languages I try to learn. It is in poetry, music, dance, art in its many forms, that we fill the gaps where words cannot enter, and just like that, my little walk to a poetry library, felt like poetry itself. It allowed me to connect with the part of me that feels lonely, but also, to connect with complete strangers without the need of any interaction, but being, simply being in ones space.

After a year of turbulence, I feel I’m relearning how to appreciate my own company more, follow my pace, enjoy the sunshine when it comes, and feel it’s light on days that aren’t, to appreciate the rain and the poetry that surrounds us in this big poem that is life.

I’m glad I grabbed the sunshine by the arm.