“Lifting the Sky” … a poem from the latest collection of London’s Myra Schneider

“I think that the poet can write forcefully, using a different approach from a journalist, about subjects such as climate change, violence, abuse and mental illness and that this is meaningful to others. I very much believe too that poetry is a way of celebrating life. I think it deserves a central place in our world.” Myra Schneider

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Plant yourself in the quiet on a familiar floor
or on an uncut summer lawn

and, thinking of seabirds, stretch out your arms,
let them ascend through the unresisting air.

With palms facing upwards, travel your hands
till your fingertips almost meet,

then release your breath, begin to separate yourself
from the weight of all that lies on you.

Allow your mind to open to this moment and your arms
to rise as they lift the palpable blue

high above the crown of your head.
Your wings will fold away

but raise them slowly to the blue again, maybe
a lightness like liquid amber will flow through you.

excerpt with permission from Lifting the Sky (Ward Wood Publishing, 2018)

© 2018, Myra Schneider

Note: Lifting the Sky is an exercise in the Chinese meditation and breathing practice of Qigong

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The poetry collection, Lifting the Sky, may be purchased directly from Myra or from Ward Wood Publishing.  Myra’s Amazon Page U.S. is HERE. Her Amazon Page U.K. is HERE. Some of Myra’s collections are available through Anne Stewart’s pf poetry.

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Myra is a poet and writer, a poetry coach, a teacher at the Poetry School (London), and consultant to Second Light Network of Women Poets (SLN). Myra also teaches a remote (distance learning) class through SLN. Details HERE.

Myra’s poetry collection, Lifting The Sky “explores the theme of survival in many contexts: from the perils facing refugees and survivors of war to the detailed and tender mating ritual of endangered seahorses.

Threats to the environment are balanced by the preservation of delicate objects in ancient burial sites such as Sutton Hoo, which is also a meditation about death.

The narrative sequence Edge is a tour de force, presenting a diary of artistic and emotional breakdown due to depression followed by healing and restored creativity.” Ward Wood Publishing

Myra Schneider said in an interview HERE, that “I believe the role of the poet is to reflect on human experience and the world we live in and to articulate it for oneself and others. Many people who suffer a loss or go through a trauma feel a need for poetry to give voice to their grief and to support them through a difficult time. When an atrocity is committed poems are a potent way of expressing shock and anger, also of bearing witness. I think that the poet can write forcefully, using a different approach from a journalist, about subjects such as climate change, violence, abuse and mental illness and that this is meaningful to others. I very much believe too that poetry is a way of celebrating life. I think it deserves a central place in our world.”

RELATED:

• Distinguished English Poet, Myra Schneider, explores: Why poetry and why is poetry often viewed as a minority art, Myra Schneider, The Poet by Day (originally published in ARTEMISpoetry)
• Dilys Wood’s “Antarctica” … the work of a highly original poet, Myra Schneider, exclusive for The Poet by Day readers
• Anne Stewart’s pf poetry, good resource for poets and poetry lovers, Jamie Dedes, The Poet by Day
• Poet, Teacher and Inspiration, Dilys Wood and the Latter-day Sapphos, Jamie Dedes, The Poet by Day
• The New Sapphos: Challenges for Women Poets, Dilys Wood, The Poet by Day
• Meet Mary MacRae, an interview with Dilys Wood on poet, Mary MacRae, Dilys Wood w/Jamie Dedes, exclusive for The Poet by Day readers

My (Jamie’s) SLN member page is HERE.

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