Rachel writes poems and creates visual expressions of her poetry. She often gets asked
“Does the poem inform the artwork or the artwork produce the poem?”
Both in all honesty! She gets her inspiration from the sea, nature, family life and what is going on around her.
This is one of the poems that was written during lock down in response to working with Ghost net to create one of the dresses for the Prince Lindholm fairytale. The poem is published in the anthology ‘Lockdown Lit by Team Author UK’ ‘
Holding Space
I hold space
for all of me
for all of us
for the old crone
nursing her gums
quilt wrapped
in her memories
confused as 2metre
shouting cannot hear
the world’s changes
shielding her into
Isolation
I hold space
for all of me
for all of us
for the mother
working socially distanced
her children all around
craving isolation
for a minute
giving into fear
sweeping in waves
wiped in anti bac
bottles and packages
each sneeze each cough
a panic of temperature testing
heightened anxieties
conflicting the bubble
cocooned with her loved ones
I hold space
for all of me
for all of us
for the child who
does not understand why
the world has changed
so completely out of ken
nose glass pressed
All looks the same
but empty
in the space
of where she wants to play
I hold space
for all of me
for all of us
in the spaces that once
were filled with the
dance of the living
that are now
now
ballooned
with the holes of grieving
I hold space
for all of me
for all of us
By Rachel Harrris