the day the weather broke

heavy clouds — Photo by Matheus Potsclam Barro on Pexels.com

We’d sat in shady corners while

The sun pressed hard against our skin,

No let up for so many weeks, so when

The weather finally broke that day

We stepped outside, the pitter-patter

Of the rain felt icy on my nose- eyes closed,

Face turned to the angry sky that growls

With fury at our careless ways.

Things have to change,

We cannot bear that heat again, the fumes

On days when reading novels hurts

And only coffees with the clink of ice

Can calm those itching nerves.

The weather has finally changed over here in the UK. We have had about two weeks of back to back sunshine and I am a typical Brit in that I cannot bear any weather over about twenty degrees.

Now that the weather has broken, it feels like I have taken a deep breath of fresh air after weeks of being starved of oxygen. It feels like the end of a panic attack when the fog has cleared and life feels manageable again.

But this heatwave has left a bad taste in all of our mouths because we can see how climate change is having a real impact on our lives – and that is scary.

I hope that we can turn this around because I actually felt quite afraid as the heat blazed on and on. It felt like there was never going to be an end to that oppressive heat. I don’t want this to continue and I pray that we can find some answers, and soon.

Much Love

Rachel xx

A poem for Greta

I love poetry and I want to do a little bit more of it. I always find myself writing fiction so I it’s always fun to try something new. And I’m not technically gifted so I thought that I’d go for fun rather than ‘good’ (not that being all fancy with your words makes you any better).

She may or may not be receiving an important prize in the near future so I thought that it was about time that I celebrate the whirlwind that is Greta Thunberg. I’m sure that opinion is divided as to whether or not her work is useful, vital, irritating, unimportant or all of the above but I’m veering towards the side of thinking that she is quite brilliant.

We have to remember that she is only a teenager and yet she has mobilised so many people, both young and old. And it’s such an important cause. We are melting ice caps, polluting the air and using up all of our resources at a rate of knots and it has to stop.

So here is my funny little poem that celebrates Greta and the amazing work that she is doing! (Little doodle by me too).