December 2021: Music influencing poetry influencing life influencing film influencing my body influencing art

• I savoured editing (for the umpteenth time) my latest poetry book, Severed in the light of energy channeler, Lindy Cowling’s cover of the Don McLean song, Crossroads (see the original below) and the documentary, David Baddiel: Social Media, Anger and Us. Here’s a poem from what is becoming this handmade and self-illustrated collection:

  Day 57

  My ole body’s in the matrix

  just 3 days after a backslide of

  posting 40 more times on Instagrab;

  hitting, tapping, nudging and

  tickling the black heart contour

  and watching blankly the likes

  falling down as Maoam Pinballs

  straight away dissolving and

  fattening the pink blotting block

  that’s my brainstem.

  by Gemma Boyd

• Wholeness, flourishing, mindful business and “groove” for New / Teal Work(ers) coach, Lutz Hempel, posted to me this ‘tender reminder’ song, Salt by Lizz Wright.

• Chalk and glue form a great mix for adding shading detail to an original piece of artwork. Cardboard, chalk and glue on the other hand, are a horrible combination ~ My black and white art, Human Soup and Space Roses looked good printed on a ‘Moonpig’ card ~ I can paint with felt-tip pens! ~ Why, nowadays, must my art be functional and rated out of five stars to be worth anything when promoting it online? Talk about a creativity killer! ~ I made a pencil drawing, I’m scared to go outside in response to this poetry film care of The Poetry Project: Mary Jane Dunphe & Cindy Tran ~ I learnt that I mustn’t put charcoal, heavy pencil and pastel drawings into clear art bags because they stick and smudge. Home of gorgeous handmade, eco-friendly papers, Shepherd’s London provide an alternative.

• What if we were to replace the word, ‘achiever’, with the word, ‘experiencer’? What if we just said no to cultural norms? Surely it’s most important to keep seeking out what makes one feel alive.

• I can’t cope much longer with ‘COVID’ imprisonment; without any sustained face-to-face contact with anyone. I just need to feel something - even if it’s just stress… and my dreams are more exciting than my reality. Somehow, though, I’m slowly moving along my life’s path.

• I was fortunate enough to have been taught by and to have live reviewed the gigs of legendary and beloved bebop pianist and educator, Barry Harris, who the world lost to COVID this month. He left us this gift of a song. Listen deeply to his words.

• For each day of the 12 days of Christmas, I offered adult survivors of incest who find Christmas as difficult as I do, one-to-one hourly creative, fun, friendly and safe Zoom sessions. There were no takers, but at least I’d shown my ‘salt’.

• My anxiety levels skyrocketed and both of my arms became stiff, swollen and painful, but sweet relief came in the form of mulled wine made from my 2017 crop of Concord grapes grown on my allotment. Also learning about the origins of pain from Dr Abdul Ghaaliq Lalkhen; that depression increases one’s felt sense of physical pain, helped.