Haiku. Secondhand book warehouse

All trails have gone cold,
Outside, traffic races past,
Dust settles, quiet shelves









Nothing like a freezing cold warehouse full of secondhand and remaindered books to make an author think!

www.francescakay.co.uk

Cardiff Children's Literature Festival event

I am delighted to be part of the Cardiff Children's Literature Festival 2013. LOTS of events, all over Cardiff. Here's the link to the Festival website
www.cardiffchildrenslitfest.com

and here's my event - it's going to be fun!

 Poems, Rhymes and Songs with Francesca Kay

Date Fri 22 March
Location Cardiff Central Library
Time 11.30 am
Age Early years
Language English
Tickets FREE
Poet Francesca Kay presents poems, rhymes and songs to listen to, join with and enjoy. Children and adults alike enjoy Francesca's enthusiasm and sense of fun as she spins words and tunes for their delight. Francesca has performed and written poetry with children in schools, libraries, gardens, woodlands, museums and art galleries.
 
www.francescakay.co.uk

Poetry. Snowdrops. Radio

Here is a link the Jason Mohammad radio programme on Radio Wales for last Friday, 22nd February. At the beginning of the programme I talked to Jason about snowdrops, and read my poem At Last, which celebrates snowdrops and the ending of winter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qsqxy

Here's the poem, it's from a collection called Garden Seasons.

No stopping it
as buds swell and soften
the silhouettes of trees

No stopping it
as the birds sing
of each day lasting a little longer

No stopping it
as the air, though cold and grey
now tastes fresh and new

No stopping it
the Spring at last,
and the garden is waking

Frost can grip the soil
but snowdrops burst through

Nothing holds them back,
those first small drops
in the great spring flood that
sweeps away the winter

www.francescakay.co.uk

Haiku. cake ingredients

I always think about where ingredients come from, and I love the idea that the seasons and sunshine from a far off land arrive in my kitchen and are transformed into cake. Perhaps that's why cakes taste so good in the winter.

cherry & almond cake
comfort of warm fruits -
ripening in distant lands,
homely sunshine taste

www.francescakay.co.uk

Haiku. making risotto

I love making risotto, and while stirring a risotto with bacon and leek yesterday evening, I distilled my method into a haiku. Haiku is below if the writing on the photo isn't too clear. Well I had drunk a big glass of wine before taking the picture!

risotto
the secret? go slow -
stir while reading a good book,
or sipping good wine

www.francescakay.co.uk

Flying Dutchman. Lovelorn. Film.

 Here is a link to a very short film about the Flying Dutchman, and his search for love.  Made with a fingerpuppet Dutchman, and various artefacts. Musical director is Peter Reynolds, who is actually a rather serious composer!

   http://youtu.be/jdyD7yOiLdk

                             The photo shows the Dutchman, stranded on a collage.

A cat on my shoulder.

Here is Jack in his favourite place when I am working in my shed. I sit with him on my shoulders for hours, and when I do move around he steadies himself with his claws. He purrs into my ear, and is very warm. So much better than a parrot.

Haiku. Lulu. Opera gingerbread.

I am going to see the WNO production of Lulu. I always bake something relevant to the opera for us to eat in the interval. Lulu gingerbread seemed an obvious choice. Here's the haiku, in case the writing isn't clear enough;

Lulu, delicious -
everybody wants a piece
and then she is gone

Haiku. Hotel. nothing personal.

I am fascinated by roadside hotels, providing a neutral space to a stream of visitors, all en route to somewhere else. Here's the haiku, in case my writing isn't clear enough;

nothing personal

no memories here -
every new guest forgotten
as the last one leaves

www.francescakay.co.uk

Haiku. Baking. Magic.

I cannot believe that baking is about science. It's alchemy. How else can lemon cake be explained? The haiku is below, in case my writing isn't very clear.

oven incubates -
ingredients mix, transform
alchemy of cake.

www.francescakay.co.uk