elisabeth pike

#25

I have a helper in the garden today, she gets changed into her blue spotty dress, she holds the secateurs awkwardly as she tries to clip a branch out of the way. ‘I cant do it’ she says, 'push me on the rope swing’. She drops the secateurs in the long grass, and turns andContinue reading "#25"

#20

We walk over a hill under blue skies and down a track going deeper into the knotty woods. We try to wear them out before bed but they still have more energy than us. Run little ones, you will overtake us one day.

#15

Sam went to school today For the first time, And then he wouldn’t tell me about it because he was too tired, And it reminded me of those days When I’d drop him off at preschool, Only three, And go to get him later, not knowing what he’d done, How he’d spent his five hours,Continue reading "#15"

#14

We keep worrying about our little girl who goes high and low like a roller coaster. She is only three, not old enough for any of this really. Still she is brave, much braver than me.

#13

Sometimes I want it to go on forever: this exhaustion in the summer evening, this ache in my belly of love for these little people who need me. The thought of them growing up is too painful to think about just now. Let’s pretend you will always come and sit on my lap for cuddles,Continue reading "#13"

#12

I forgot to write yesterday, too busy with these little ones who bring me so much joy, who make my back ache and who have taught me to love.

#11

It is times like these where the sun is kind in the morning, where it kisses your skin with sweetness, where your toes are damp from the morning dew, where the world just here is happy to be alive- these birds, these buzzing flies, these trees. Thankful is how I feel this morning, humbled toContinue reading "#11"

#9

You should have seen it today, a thousand raindrops battering on the Tarmac and shivering the leaves of the trees, making them louder, louder. I held my Benjamin at the open window, his eyes lit with wonder. You should have heard it tonight, here in our front room, the clatter and din of the churchContinue reading "#9"

#8

It is half past nine when we step outside into our clear beautiful garden, and inhale a lungful of sweet night air. I pull the washing (still damp) from the line and you gather up those dirty and faded plastic toys that the kids have scattered around. We fold up the teepee, look at theContinue reading "#8"

#6

We are woken this morning by a rumble of thunder. You sit up in our bed and say ‘I’m not scared of thunderstorms anymore’. Later, there is a break in the rain and we walk through the farmers field behind our house. The sky is big and beautiful. It stops me in my tracks andContinue reading "#6"

#4

It has been a crazy non stop day. There has been laughter and tears in the garden, fighting over the rope swing, a big four year old boy getting toys for his little brother, playing with him. There has been a scoot to the playground where the light was beautiful and clear, where we satContinue reading "#4"

#1

They are bundled off to preschool this morning and there is space and time while littlest sleeps. But I am not writing yet, only reading. It rains and the sky is grey. We go to Grandmas and I am bursting to be out of my house, out of my smallness and as soon as we’reContinue reading "#1"

Another One

Another one. I was in the garden centre with my two, no three now. I forget to count Ben because he is so little, even now. I strap him to me and he doesn’t cry so I have a hand each and a strong voice for the other two. There we were with our overpricedContinue reading "Another One"

Enough is enough

here in the evening, emptied out. here I am, sitting on the carpet, the debris of the day strewn around me like a fox has been at a rubbish bag. the baby squirms and wriggles on the sofa; he is not yet settled. I have not yet washed up, had a cup of tea, hadContinue reading "Enough is enough"

July Thunder

We are at playgroup; the last of term in a heatwave. The grass has turned to straw, and the children run about in their swimming costumes. The colour goes out from the sky though, and there is a clap of thunder that makes us all jump. The rain falls on us like God is pouringContinue reading "July Thunder"

They are like jewels

They are like jewels, these people, They shine in a room of closed off doors. At toddler group, in a rowdy room of children’s choruses, I see a mother start to cry. I think her child has hurt her and it has suddenly all become too much, but I do not know really, I amContinue reading "They are like jewels"

Crying in Public Places

This time it is me again, in a room of friends or a room of strangers. At the door of my son’s preschool when he shouts ‘don’t like preschool’ the whole way there, and leaps from the buggy board and runs off down the road, and I hand him over, howling and I have toContinue reading "Crying in Public Places"

Charterhouse

And what have I loved the most, this weekend? Walking out of the wedding speeches to see lovely Charterhouse at dusk, where the children ran and ran across the cricket green, their bare feet upon the wet lawn. And then today, on the blowy beach with blue-grey clouds on the horizon, where we paddled gingerlyContinue reading "Charterhouse"

Stella del Mattino

Sitting in the car on a rainy day, waiting for you. One child calls ‘mummy, mummy’ from the back seat, the other breathes a slow, sleep-filled breath. Stella del mattino plays and this is the moment I can snatch to write a poem, A moment I had not seen before.

Happy

On a day where we thought it would rain incessantly, and it did not, we drove out to a garden centre and watched the electric blue fish dart around their tank and said ‘hello’ to Bobby the parrot, who having hopped down from his perch, was walking around, dragging his tail feathers, pecking people’s shoes. Continue reading "Happy"

A walk near Shere

‘Big, big muddy puddle!’ Sam said, over and over and he jumped in them until his shoes were wet through. Hail fell around us and the sky turned dark, but it felt good to be outside, even still. EDIT: This poem was eventually made into a poetry print. You can find it here. It alsoContinue reading "A walk near Shere"

Weight

There’s something so liberating in the crash of the downpour outside, in the rush of the rain, the weight of it as it falls. We open the window and listen.

Sam and me

Taken by my lovely friend Suzie Nolan: http://suzanne-nolan.blogspot.co.uk

Moment

28th March A moment to myself while they sleep upstairs. Conversations from outside float through the window, a plane drones in the sky. I sit still and listen to the brush of sandpaper on a window frame, the slam of a car door, the call of an unknown bird. It is these little things thatContinue reading "Moment"