A Happy New Year to you all. We wish you a loving and magical 2025, where we hold hope every day. ✨
Back in November, I was looking for Christmas presents and was delighted to find a calendar featuring a poem for each month by Becky Hemsley. I love Becky's poetry and bought a few to gift to loved ones. I was delighted to discover that I had stumbled upon Becky's shop on Etsy and I sent her a message sharing my appreciation for her work and how often I used her poems in funeral services. When the parcel of calendars arrived, Becky had placed extra gifts inside with her gratitude. I am grateful for our connection and for all the kind and loving connections held in my heart.
I was chatting to a lady, as we gathered to celebrate her mum's life, and she asked how our Christmas was. 'It held pockets of peace,' I replied and she paused and agreed theirs was the same. We went on to chat about 'pockets of peace'.
Nothing stays the same, and we are all navigating challenges each day, whilst swimming in the same pool, albeit with each of us running from unique operating systems. She is learning how to swim with grief, and discovering that it doesn't go away, but you adjust and adapt.
Pockets of peace gift us the time to let things settle as we adjust and adapt to all kinds of situations, stepping forward to make changes where we can.
Nurturing ourselves, our loved ones and all those we come into contact with is a flowing 'work in progress', as we step forward with hope.
The Cloak
By Becky Hemsley
It’s almost just a whisper
You can barely hear it there
Like tiny strands of stardust
That are floating on the air.
Blink and you will miss it
Like a ghost before your eyes
Sheer and so transparent
It will likely pass you by.
Reach out with your fingers
And you’ll hardly feel a thing
As if you’re trying to touch the clouds
And gather them all in.
But listen and reach out again,
Take time to look around
And you will see and feel it
And you’ll hear the way it sounds.
It echoes in the footsteps
That continue pushing on
It lingers with your words of faith
Long after they are gone.
It’s felt in all the strength you have
That helps you hold on tight
To all those threads of courage
That you cling to every night.
It’s seen in every rainbow
And in how the day appears
To throw a spear of sunlight
Through your deepest, darkest fears.
It’s hiding in plain sight
Though you don’t recognise its face
But you can feel its presence
As it offers you embrace.
So let it wrap around you
Like an almost weightless cloak
And you’ll feel a little lighter
Now you’ve dressed yourself in hope.
🩷