Foot of Our Stairs
Folk carrying their lore
drop words, seeding stories
breathing new life
into ancient yarns,
transporting tales mixing
Scandinavian mythos
with Celtic mysticism
of heart-stopping quests,
painted through verbal
images, marks
mapped on manuscripts
wood whittled
riven into rock
carried on canvas by
travelling troubadours
across realms real
and fantastic,
stirring spirits
mystery and magic
recipes that
compass the world
migrating one into
another, swallowed
sloughed, re-birthed
blown, flown fiery
across skies
inspiring Northern
humour in adversity
as pragmatic workers
sweat smog
smuttily escaping to hills,
inhaling scents
filling lungs with
moorland air
haunted curlew and
kites cries resonating,
finding foot of stairs
to nowhere
in crumbled cabins,
carrying home
legends of boggarts
fables of fairies
exhilaration and
exhalations
of laughter
Summary
Sue and I share similarities in our backgrounds, as well as our creative work. We’re inspired by our Northern working-class upbringing, social history, use of language, storytelling and humour – sometimes black, sometimes perplexing – that denotes it*. Both can trace our roots further in time to Celts and Vikings through our historical names, as well as more recently through parental/grand-parent (?) migrations. Seems to us that we have a large and lively DNA stream floating ideas of secret stories, flowing from the blood of our antecedant makers and makars that keeps the child within us ever curious and creative.
* An expression used by folk oop t’North on receiving surprising news:
‘By ek, ah’ll go t’foot of are stairs!’
Writer: Irene Lofthouse
E: irenelofthousewriter@gmail.com
TW: @irene_lofthouse Instagram:@irenelofthousewriter
Visual Artist: Sue Dewhurst
E: thepopupgallery@btinternet.com
TW: @thepopupgaller1
Instagram: @suedewhurst
W: https://www.suedewhurst.co.uk/