Wild Imaginings

creating from the past to the future

1.

Kevin spoke of a winter night of gripping cold and of seeing seven wrens take shelter in an old nest in his shed. These tiny birds have little body mass to help them to retain heat in conditions of such extreme cold and Kevin described how he saw them huddled together, their heads in towards the centre, their tails out. They needed above all to protect their brains, their heads.

I had set my alarm for 4.20am on this recent Sunday morning to join a dawn chorus event at the nearby village of Clonea-Power at 5am. As I turned left at the crossroads, known here as Dhá Rua’s¹, there ahead of me in the clear pre-dawn sky was the waning moon, guiding me for the final few minutes drive to the meeting place. There are some moments that fill you with wonder, that have you feel that you are exactly where you should be right then. This was for me one of those.

Ecologist Kevin Collins from Birdwatch Ireland guided us through the many songbirds, each singing their distinctive tunes to let the avian (and human) world know they had survived the dark dangers of the night and were in their territory, ready for another day of feeding and nesting. About thirty of us had gathered here for this special experience, opposite St. Cuan and Broghán’s Church, closed at this early hour but with its wonderful stained glass windows from the Harry Clarke Studios behind the altar, ready for the light to illuminate the interior as the day brightened. Beside us the river Clodiagh flowed beneath the bridge, from its source in the Comeragh Mountains. Kevin explained that it was the combination of the river, the nearby woodland, the built environment of the village, the surrounding farmland, that made this location such a rich environment for this morning’s dawn chorus. We would not hear a cuckoo here, for that bird would be found in the more boggy and mountainous terrain, in the nearby Comeraghs, invading the nests of meadow-pipits and making them unwitting foster parents. We stood and listened to the blackbirds, robins, chiff-chaffs, wood pigeons, and many others as the sky to the east began to glow peach with the rising sun.

What is it about sharing an experience like this? There were people there whom I knew, others that I didn’t, but we were all bound together somehow by sharing the wonder, sharing a sense of the miraculous. Maybe a shared sense that we too had survived the dark of the night, the dark of winter.

2

On Friday next, 22nd of May, I will host the final Poetry Plus open mic of the season in the tearoom of Brewery Lane Theatre, Carrick-on-Suir. What will make this one different is that I have decided not to start it up again in September as I have been doing for the past decade and a half. Why did I start this fifteen years ago? And why, as it is always such a special experience, am I finishing with it now? To be honest I can more easily answer the first question than the second. The pat answer to the first is that I knew I needed something like this and I wondered if others might too. It was important for me from the beginning that anyone could read not only their own work but also be free to share aloud any poem or short piece of prose that was special to them. I was keen to have as few barriers as possible to participation. For many people it is a daunting enough challenge to stand up to read something in front of a group without the added burden of having to have written it as well. Though of course many people did read their own work. In addition to those from Carrick-on-Suir and its hinterland there is a roll-call of national and international professional writers, with a reach from the US to Australia, to Nepal, and around Ireland, who have joined us from time to time over the years in the tearoom.

Poetry Plus, April 10th 2026 - photo Margaret O’Brien

The tagline for everything writing-related that I’ve done, from my workshops Writing Changes Lives, to the Story House Ireland, the Brewery Lane Writers’ Weekend, The Bag of Stars and the open mic Poetry Plus is that, ‘it’s about writing but it’s always about more than writing’. We don’t just gather in a room (or on Zoom) and read, or write, a poem or two without something changing. Not only in ourselves but also at minimum a slight shift in the energy of everyone present. Hearts and minds are opened to new experiences, we gain new ways of viewing the world and each other. Empathy increases as we view ourselves and each other in new ways, some inner knowing grows. None of this is quantifiable but we know it to be real nonetheless.

Over recent months I’ve been doing a course with Allan Frater,² ‘Waking Dreams’, and, among many other things³, he introduced me to the difference between a complex system and a complicated one. The former is open, unpredictable, an ecosystem across which matter, energy and information flows. A complicated system on the other hand is mechanistic, closed, with many intricate parts, and within a boundary that separates it from the surrounding environment. For me Poetry Plus and every writing group and creative initiative I have facilitated over the past several decades I see as wonderfully complex. If there is to be potential to create how could it be anything else?

So to the second question - why stop? First, this is a significant year for me as I turn into another new decade in a couple of months. Ever since the day of my fortieth birthday when I travelled back from my first Open University Summer School at the University of Reading, (my mind on fire with new ideas!) I have made a conscious decision to make some intentional change as a birthday with a zero approaches, to welcome a new decade with intent. It is in this spirit that I am releasing, letting go, of Poetry Plus. Making space for other things (I have a novel to complete for one thing) and also making space for others in this community who might have ideas about how to build something communal and lovely that would allow people to express their beautiful selves through writing. I have no doubt those people are out there, and likely not too far from me.

I have no intention of vanishing and, in addition to focussing on my own writing, I will be deliberate about being part of groups and projects that act to foster qualities that increase the resilience and creativity of individuals and communities. I will also be running away to sea again, in June, as volunteer mentor with Sail Training Ireland, just one of those organisations that do exactly that, in a most wonderful and imaginative way.

3

I owe gratitude to many, individuals and groups, especially the individuals who have found their way to Brewery Lane Theatre, through the kiln area and entered the tearoom at the back. Often with no little trepidation the first time, and then summoning the courage to share their words. I appreciate the support of everyone at Brewery Lane Theatre, which has been the home of Poetry Plus, of Writing Changes Lives, since the beginning. There is also the rich cultural vibe along what has come to be known as the Cultural Quarter in Carrick-on-Suir. This includes the ever-creative Linda Fahy of the Tudor Artisan Hub (we have collaborated on so many projects!), the wonderful Ormond Castle and its helpful staff, also the Strand Theatre and musical society. These are all very creatively active and we are all within a few hundred metres of each other in this small town on the banks of the River Suir. We are without doubt culturally rich and very fortunate to have so many people willing to voluntarily engage and commit to the arts in its various forms.

4

There are two mentors in particular who have shaped my approach, whose work I responded to instantly on first encountering them. Both of them dared to imagine a different world and acted to bring it about in their own fields. The late Pat Schneider - founder of Amherst Writers & Artists, whose wisdom about writing and writers I continue to hold as my north star. In her own words: “Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level.” Her life’s work delivered on that belief over and over as she created the conditions that furthered her aim. The second is Jerzy Gregorek, who with Aniela Gregorek, is founder and developer of The Happy Body, a remarkable physical practice and also a way of living. From Jerzy I try to recognise in my everyday life his wisdom of ‘hard choices, easy life’. Bringing Poetry Plus to a close this month is for me a hard choice - continuing with it would, honestly, have been the easier route.

A remarkable account of transformation - Jerzy Gregorek & Tae Jin Park⁴

5

Now I return to the image of the sheltering wrens, bringing their heads together for warmth and having the innate wisdom to know that together is better for survival. We will come together on Friday next, 22nd in the tearoom of Brewery Lane Theatre and celebrate a remarkable fifteen years of gathering and creating, of sharing. If you are within travelling distance of Carrick-on-Suir, especially if you’ve been at Poetry Plus at any time since I began, I would love if you could join us. Let us all dare to practice some wild imagining together one more time.

1. The crossroads is in the townland of Ballyhest, but everyone local to the area refers to it as ‘Dhá Rua’s’, a nickname for the pub which used to trade there. The reference, I am reliably informed, is to the owner, David (Daithi, in Irish) and his red hair (‘rua’ is the Irish word for red) - so red-haired David. He was also I believe related to David Frost, the late TV presenter and chat show host in the UK.

2. I confess to stealing the title of this post from Allan.

3. Allan has led us through the experience of ‘waking dreams’, both ‘eyes open’ and ‘eyes closed’ versions. I’ve also been part of co-dreaming workshops, very beautiful experiences that I struggle to describe or convey how special the experiences have been.

4. For more background on this story you can watch Tim Ferriss in recent conversation with Jerzy Gregorek at this link.