Mabh Savage
Words and the world passing by; how it sings to me; how I clamour back.
Let’s play!
An outdoor, under cover play area so bored kids can unwind from shopping even though it’s throwing it down with rain? Well done, White Rose Centre. Good work.
I’m on Spotify!
My song, Seraphim, is available on Spotify from today!
Click this link to listen, and please feel free to let me know what you think in the comments.
If you enjoy my music or writing, please consider helping me create more! Become a patron at Patreon, or simply buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi.
I’m hoping to release more tracks through the year, so watch this space!
Have a great weekend.
Going in Pairs
Lads roll their eyes
When they see us pop
To the loo in pairs
Easy to be blasé
When you’ve never been groped
And had no one believe you
Never been pinned against a wall
Never been leered at
With no one to back you up
Never stalked in a dark corridor
Like some sort of prey,
Weak only because
Of foolish patriarchy
That somehow thinks
We would make these things up
Like it’s jolly to say
‘I was touched’
‘I was hurt’
‘I was raped’
Who says these things for fun?
Not all men! Comes the cry.
Of course, and likewise
Not all women lie.
So don’t begrudge us
The fragile safety net of
Going in pairs.
At the Seaside
We went to Hornsea this weekend. It’s where my fiancé’s parents live, so we go fairly often. It’s almost inevitable that we’ll end up on the beach. Even when the kids don’t demand it, I do! And the dog has two walks a day down there, getting rowdy and sandy.
This is a ‘creature house’. In order to understand its purpose, you’d need to have a better grasp of the seven-year-old’s mind than I! For the past few visits, he’s insisted on building one of these. First we have to source the right stones; a firm foundation. Then they have to be laid out quite precisely. Then, usually, one of the big people has to fetch a bucket of seawater to create a pool- so the creatures have water too.
He wandered away from his creature house for a short time, and was delighted to find it attracted some actual creatures! Gulls and a huge crow came to check out the new structure; a proud moment for our intrepid constructor and conservationist.
Big Deal
Just because something isn’t a big deal to you, doesn’t mean it isn’t a big deal to someone else.
If someone tells you something is bothering them, listen. It’s completely okay to not understand. It’s not okay to belittle their emotions.
If someone snaps, ask if they are attacking you personally. If they are, that’s not okay. But if they’re just expressing exasperation or anger at a particular situation, try to listen.
If someone suffers from anxiety, then irritation or anger can be a sign of an impending attack, or of moderate to severe generalised anxiety. Anxiety doesn’t just present as nervousness or panic, especially in people that have to mask those feelings on a day to day basis.
Above all, make sure you’re not holding people to higher standards than you expect yourself to be held to. We’ve all experienced times when something mattered to us that seemed trivial to others. Remember that feeling, and use it to empathise when you face someone in a similar situation.
A big deal is always a big deal to the person experiencing it, whether you understand it or not. Be kind.
Lugh’s Lesson
I walk up to the gates
And I tell them
How much I have to offer
How much I have to give
But they don’t want to know
They’ve seen it all before
You don’t write better
Sing better
Fight better
Than any we’ve seen before
Ok, I say, the way
Through your closed-mindedness
Is clear
No fear, I’ll show
Instead of tell
I’ll write the words
That make you
Laugh, cry and sleep
I’ll sing the song
That brings the past
To life
I’ll fight the warriors you send
I’ll toss the blocks
I’ll break and bend
And mend
These bridges fast.
Lugh showed us well
Do, don’t tell.
