Dawnings
Torrent
By Nicholas Hooper
Flowing ever faster, fuller,
the river gathers force from
rain on the mountain,
dragging down mud and rocks,
and rushes past my window.
Three times the normal rainfall
in Wales this year and I believe it.
Our weather patterns distorted
by the gathering storm
of climate change.
Our lives too, get ever faster, fuller.
They gather force from the
information that we must receive
about this and that, news and contacts
from all over the world as we edge closer
to a spinning torrent of thoughts, words
and images.
There’s no way to slow this down right now
so stand back from the water's edge,
look out for the rising tides,
keep still and sheltered
and watch and hope
that we can
change in
time.
—————
About Dawnings:
“Every morning at around 5am I get up and go down to my studio. After a short meditation I write down whatever is in my head, giving myself fifteen minutes to do so. Then moving over to the piano (or a more portable instrument like my Ukulele when I'm away), I improvise and record a piece of music inspired by whatever words I just wrote. It is a great way of keeping both my writing and my composing going and I call these small creations Dawnings. They are mostly unedited, like sketches, so that they keep that fresh feeling of an early morning discovery.”
— Nick Hooper