Wednesday and I leap out of bed at 7 o’clock as my feet look forward to the chiropodist. It’s a real treat and worth the early rise, shower and leisurely breakfast. I drive to the chiropodist who is always chatty and down to earth. A good warm foot soak in a magic brew and then the pampering starts. I am scraped, sanded, clipped and filed before being disinfected and oiled. Itis a glorious way to spend half an half hour.

I drive home via the petrol station and fill my partners car. I get back and retrieve the now empty trash bin and make a pot of herbal tea. Then I am off to the Shed to be creative. I am practicing my Chinese characters. Today I have focused on Yugen, which signifies a profound awareness of the universe that triggers feelings too deep and mysterious for words.

It is a difficult symbol to get right, and I spend a long time practicing it. My intention is to put it on a small artists board. Before I can undertake the task I get a phone call from a friend and we spend a long time chatting and catching up. Lots of family stuff and also I had revealed to me how I can get the most out of my Tesco points. Apparently, it is possible to upgrade their value for other things other than food. I shall explore this. After a long and enjoyable chat I have lunch. The ring people call me and tell me my new ring is ready and if I am in tomorrow, they will send it. I am very happy to be in tomorrow to get my new ring and the news puts me in a good mood .

Back in the Shed I work on my symbol and at last commit it to the board using ink and brush. I am not happy with it. I instantly do not like my effort. I paint over it with ink and decide to draw the symbol in chalk and then fix it. I have to wait for the inked board to dry so I write a letter while I wait for this to happen. I post the letter picking up envelopes and fruit pastilles on the way and return home to the Shed. I take my dried board and chalk the Yugen characters on to it. It works and I spray it with fixative. Time to return to the house but not before checking the hedgehog food I put out. It is still there, so my hedgehog has not found the new sight yet.

Back at my laptop I check my emails and find the link to the Poetry Society Stana meeting has been sent to me. There is the invitation and with it the further invitation to submit a poem for the group to criticise and give feedback on. I spend time deciding if I should or not but, in the end, send them my Swinfen Duckling poem, one of my Herod’s Children (competition failures).

Ducklings at Swinfen
In the midst of wire, ducklings
Following their mother
Across a pond of tarmac.
Hunched ducks dotted around,
Not paddling, not swimming, sitting.
No water to be seen, just black stuff
Rimmed by trodden green.
Dependant, hurrying bundles staying close,
Amongst the lost boys,
And their guards.
This all taken as a matter of fact,
To me a wonder.
In all the places to find
New life in such array.
This was the last place,
That scuttling, piping, urgency of survival
And dependency.
Yet mother chooses prison
To bring her children 
To safety and to life.
Astounding, but ignored.
That’s prison for you.

I will be interested to see what they say. I’ve seen some poems from other members. Not my cup of tea so far but they maybe as reticent as me about making public their trickier works. I did consider sending my poem that starts “What a cunt Fern Cotton is” but thought this might be a bit reckless in the circumstances. That’s the sort of poem I will save for a live performance. The evening creeps up on me and I am suddenly feeling tired and headachy. Paracetamol and a quiet evening are what lays before me, perhaps a hint of football and a drama but I shall be in bed early tonight. I am excited by the prospect of feeling that I have retrieved that part of me the seal ring represents. Tomorrow will be a good day.