I met Jess while I was volunteering at the 2019 Do Lectures in Wales. Jess is awesome and, as we hit it off, we realised we’d met before - while I was working as ‘Visual Storyteller’ for the digital-content production company Pixillion. My boss, Remco Merbis, and I were making a series of films about celebrity chefs for the Soil Association’s ‘Organic September’ campaign. One of the chefs was Anna Jones. Jess was working for Anna.
The poem was written while I was in California struggling with homesickness. Last week, after being prompted by another volunteer, I shared it with the Do Whatsapp group, which is one of the most lovely, supportive networks I’ve ever had access to. Jess asked to share the poem on Halen Mon blog.
It’s an honour, so I’m sharing it here too.
Every time I see the sea,
I am taken back to all the times
I saw the sea before.
The deep blue
Soothes, washes away
Petty thought
Releases, purifies, cleans
Never refuses to hold
or baptize me,
a reminder
to let
go,
to place trust
in things
That cannot be fully known
I see,
as
I float,
That all spaces
between
bodies
are
just
sea
Deep, dark and free
Slippery boundaries
that separate
you’s
from
me’s.
https://www.halenmon.com/every-time-i-see-the-sea-by-anna-hoghton/