alisonhankinson

Give Thanks

We are often blinded to what is of real value in our lives. We are often blind-sided by material wealth and economic worth and seek to measure our worth according to our apparent successes and failures at acquiring wealth and establishing some form of economic status based on it. These high expectations can indeed plummet us into great chasms of despair when our net worth based on these rigid criteria is seemingly low or even non-existent.

At 50 I find that I appear to be worth less in wages and respect than I was when I was 25. This has been a hard lesson to learn. However I can live off less, and I realise that so much of how I have measured myself is based on unrealistic monetised criteria.

I hope we somehow teach our children to recognise and measure their value and worth in other ways.

I hope they learn to measure their wealth in the size of their hearts and the depth of their compassion.

I hope they learn to measure their worth in their ability to give thanks, in their tolerance and their preparedness to give support and guidance to others in need.

I hope that they learn that time is of value and is often underestimated.

When you put aside the desire to be the most successful, or to have the most money it gives you the opportunity to look more closely at what you achieved in life and what is of value in and around you.

I am thankful to have had the opportunity to be a mum, and for me this was not a done deal.

I am thankful that I have been able to work most of my life in a job that has been profoundly interesting, engaging and in a field that I have been extremely passionate about.

I have been fortunate and am thankful that my work has been fulfilling and challenging and that I have often felt that I am making a worthwhile and valid contribution to society.

I am thankful for my family, all of them, warts and all, a husband who has at times driven me to distraction but always been there to hold my hand and walk beside me when the road has been tough. I am thankful for my children who have made me what I am, everything I have done has been to be able to give them something of value and worth. I am thankful for my sister and my parents for all that they gave to me and all that I learned from them.

I am thankful that when I have made mistakes I have had opportunities to recover and learn and try again.

I am thankful for the friendship and love I have received over the years from people whom I have loved and cherished and also sometimes from complete strangers.

I am thankful for the world around me, the beautiful buildings with their amazing stories, the sea and the landscape, the weather and all that is nature, from the humble daisy to a seascape at sunset.

When we take time to think about what makes us glad, we are able to remember that value and worth are not necessarily linked to money.

Namaste.

©Alison Jean Hankinson

Witches brew, Lancaster Castle

Castle cauldron boiling

Old Chattox caterwauling

Deep in dungeon desperate days

Witches wasting away.

John Law was cursed and died

Whilst on the open road

His crime to scorn Alison Device

And her familiar spirit dog.

Chattox turned the milk sour

Confessed to killing Robert Nutter

All ten witches tried at the assize

In the court at the castle of Lancaster

Witches sabbat

Malkin tower

Death by hanging

We remember forever.

©Alison Jean Hankinson

This was for d’Verse we were asked to use verbs and a landscape that spoke to us. Today I was at Lancaster castle meeting up with a friend who is visiting from NZ. This castle is an important part of Lancaster’s landscape and has existed in some shape and form for more than 1000 years. It is the home of the assizes and courts and is part of the Royal Duchy of Lancaster. One of the most famous trials was that of the Pendle witches in 1612, where 10 were found guilty and hanged. The stone was part of a series commissioned on the 400th anniversary to commemorate the witches story. There is a tercet on each stone and they are located around the city.

At the trial the evidence of Jennet Device who was only 9 years old, is believed to have set the precedent for using children as witnesses in witch trials and this was to have an impact as far afield as Salem.

Solway Firth Haibun

We drove north today to visit my dad, it is the start of the main school holiday and the traffic was less problematic than I had expected and we spent a glorious few hours up on the Solway Firth throwing sticks in the water for the dog and enjoying a lazy amble at High tide. The marsh was thronging with walkers fervently following in the footsteps of their forefathers along the route of Hadrian’s wall which separated Scotland from England in Roman times. It keeps this part of the Solway alive and buzzing in the summer months. The church where I got married is open to the public and there is a small kitchen and some supplies and an honesty box for weary travellers who stop by on their journey.

By late afternoon when we began our journey home the sun was beating down and it was much hotter and I longed for air-conditioning in my little Kia Rio. Along the motorway the traffic snaked its way south and even at the top of Shap it was quite clearly the height of summer, there was a constant train of caravans travelling northward to Scotland as we meandered our way down through Tebay. Blink and it will be gone and already in Whangarei NZ the magnolias are in bloom as they head towards spring. Time and tide stop for no man.

Wild roses blossom

Heat haze on the horizon

Swifts fly south to Spain.

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©Alison Jean Hankinson

This is for Haibun monday at d’Verse. Where we were given the following directions:

Today is Free For All – meaning, you can choose your subject for the haibun. However there are still some rules: The haibun must be one to three tight paragraphs (2) Ended with a haiku (containing kigo and kireji words – season and cutting words) (3) Must be true (4) Must have actually happened to you.

School’s out…. for teachers…

Marking’s done

Summer’s come

Last bell rings, go home.

Bag’s away,

Wine glass full

Reading book, nit comb.

Relaxing bath

Free at last

Take-away, it’s time to play.

©Alison Jean Hankinson

Regards to all my fellow school teachers out there….XXXXX

Jack “Legs” Diamond

“Are you serious? ” Alice said

“Stone cold He’s dead”

Shot in the head

Whilst sat in bed.

He was a malevolent man

From evil clan

Drug run thriller

Gangland killer

Prohibition mafia man

Irish dance-man

Legs Diamond

The Clay pigeon.

©Alison Jean Hankinson

Playing with a new form- the minute for d’Verse. This is about Jack the legs Diamond, who was perhaps related to Lily and Fairground Fay.

He was a real gangster and his wife was Alice Kenny Diamond. The image is a prohibition image and is creative commons.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Outing to Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Last day of school

No teachers fuss

Fun on the bus

Fish and chips to eat at lunchtime

Ice cream Keylime

Sunburn Sunshine

Northern coastline

Children riding on the big one

All fears are gone

End of school year

Sharing good cheer.

©Alison Jean Hankinson

The challenge at d’Verse tonight was to produce something called a minute…it had various rules…this is a light-hearted effort to attempt to meet them…incidentally today was the school trip to BLACKPOOL Pleasure beach, another northern gem…an amusement park if you are not familiar with Blackpool.

Looking beyond the madness…..

This view gave me solace

This view gave me gladness

This view gave me the power to heal

I have needed this window and this view

At a time in my life where I have been devalued

Worth less every day and every step of the way

This sunset, this seascape, these mountains gave back

Worth less every day and every step of the way

At a time in my life where I have been devalued

I have needed this window and this view

This view gave me the power to heal

This view gave me gladness

This view gave me solace

This is for d’Verse poetics. Our theme was to take a picture from a window…

Missing Ellen

For a moment my resolve waivers

I am on a precipice being plunged into darkness

By the weight of losing you.

Dull ache and yearning for your return.

Was I a good parent?

Should I have done more?

A flicker of doubt devours me.

This is for d’Verse. Happy sixth birthday. It is Quadrille night and the word we were given was flicker. Ellen is my eldest twin daughter and we left her behind in NZ- very remiss of us. XXX

Back at you… determined not to be a martyr Lily took the law into her own hands….

I want to serve it back

With a wooden cricket bat

Just one great big thwack

Sends you reeling in the rain

I Paddle in your blood stain

“That’ll learn you” I feel no disdain

Bat in hand and now it is done

You are forever silenced and gone

Only vile memories of you linger on.

There is no post murder remorse

You broke me and ridiculed my flaws

No grief just justice in this final vengeful divorce.

Alison Jean Hankinson

This was an accidental poem and I suspect Lily is a distant relative of Fairground Fay. However as I searched for a suitable image of Lily….I came across the beautiful Lillian Gish. She was movie star in the silent movie era, and although she never married, she did have several love affairs, one notorious one with a director called D W Griffith. There were some who declared the relationship to be “an ongoing psychodrama” but I have no real knowledge of this matter. Anyway I feel that Lillian Gish is the perfect image for my accidental revenge poem. Both images courtesy of wikimedia.