Spinnies Aberogwen Nature Reserve © Eirly Edwards - Behi
Senses map @ NWWT Michelle Payne
Using the five senses for writing @ Lee Green
Wellbeing and Writing
Writing in nature @ NWWT Michelle Payne
Last summer, we held a wellbeing and writing walk, at our Spinnies Aberogwen Nature Reserve. We guided our participants through a wellbeing meditation, using their five senses to map out the nature and wildlife of the reserve and write prose inspired by these senses and their connection to nature. Below are these wonderful pieces written by our participants. This was one of a series of events enabled by funding from Welsh Government’s Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme, administered by WCVA.
Using a blank map of the Spinnies Aberogwen Nature Reserve, participants could write, draw or doodle what each of their five senses discovered during their walk, allowing them to focus on their well-being and inspire them to write.
Curlew/Gylfinir @ Alan Price
'Curlew'
Written by Wendy Dossett
Curlew, saviour of St Beuno's noble writings from the main
Back to the biting wind, tail-feathers blown against the grain.
Her tapestry-needle bill sifts and turns the silt,
Sifts and turns, sifts, persistent,
Wooden beams of the Spinnies Aberogwen's shoreline @ Wendy Dossett
Weaving invisible weft through muddy warp
Her own lines, disappearing,
There and gone,
Her cries, too, taken by the wind,
There and gone. There and gone.
"Here is a little poem I wrote after the creative writing walk at the Spinnies. I was having a difficult mental health day but I decided to go along anyway as I love it there and I often explore my feelings and thoughts through writing. It was a wonderful walk exploring the geology, botany and birdlife of the area and it certainly helped alleviate some of the isolation I feel when I can’t go out very much due to my disabilities. It felt good to remember my connection to nature and to all that goes on around us and we were absolutely blessed with a fantastic display by the Kingfisher as we ended our walk. I started to write about the process of adjusting to life after your children have flown the nest and the process of rediscovering yourself after many years of being a single parent. Poetry always helps me take a step back from whatever it is that I’m feeling so i can process and appreciate them. I’m grateful for the creative stimulus that this creative writing walk offered me."
~ Lee Green
Swan with cygnets © Jon Hawkins
'Brood'
Written by Lee Green
I push myself to go
Out into the world
It is hard
I have no flock to fly with
More like the buzzard than the starling
Going it alone
Yet often the flock mindset is strong
though misguided in me-
Hypervigilant
Ever
ready
to
flee
Plant sketches @ Lee Green
Startled
I raise the call
Of some imagined danger
My high pitched trill
Falls on deaf ears
Sure we are vulnerable
But there is no we
My nest is now empty
So long have i fought to protect you
And now you have fledged
I look up at you soaring
On sanguine wings
And feel proud
Though insubstantial
Plant sketches @ Lee Green
Now i am frightened by my own falsetto
Flapping at my shadow
When night falls
I sleep in the shallows
One eye ever open
Never fully resting
Fearing and hoping
For the next chance
to be brave for you
Recently I’ve only pecked at crumbs
When once i hunted wildly
And my plumage
Seems faded, disheveled
Doubting my ability
To fly again
I walk towards the clifftop
And take a deep breath,
start my shaky ascent
And the wind lifts me up
To a new elevation
Where the vantage point
Is vast.
Herring Gull @ Gillian Day
'White Gull'
Written by Michelle Payne (NWWT Engagement Officer)
I’m a white gull, squawking loudly to my fellow gulls as we splashed around the estuary.
Making sure my friends and family are all around me, all happy and safe.
And most importantly, can hear my loud squawks.
They need to know I’m here and with them.
I decide to take flight, high up above the waters into the great blue sky, my friends and family close behind.
We fly over towards the land together as one
Right over some humans sitting along the shoreline.
Their heads are down and they seem to be scribbling on white sheets of paper, doing that strange writing things humans do.
I let out a great big squawk to catch their attention too.
It’s important for all to know,
Humans, birds, every living thing,
I am here and with them.
River Ogwen from the bridge @ NWWT Michelle Payne
I look up at the squawking colony of gulls that soared over our heads as we sit and write.
The sun beams down at me, warming me with it rays.
As I stand, I can see a lone camomile nesting next to me besides the log,
Waving in the salty sea air that I can smell and taste on my tongue.
In the city, the gulls squawking can seem loud, disruptive, always at the wrong time.
But here, as I stop and breathe, I wonder,
Perhaps it’s not them that creates that annoyance in us.
But the way the city pushes us into rushing about, hustling and bustling
Taking this time to stop and just stay in the one single moment
And those squawking gulls aren’t disrupting the peacefulness that sits over me at all
They are a part of that peace
Here, and with me.
Wellbeing participants and Nature Keen guide @ NWWT Michelle Payne
Writing besides the River Ogwen @ NWWT Michelle Payne
Taking a closer look @ NWWT Michelle Payne
To see more amazing prose, see our previous creative writing walk blog:
Spinning Stories at the Spinnies Aberogwen
And for more wellbeing walks, and chances to step out into nature, check out our Events page for forthcoming events.
