Day 8 (Fri 20 Oct): Molly Ovenden

The following was written in response to interactions with exhibits, people, and observations at Holborn Library, observing the pieces named, “Reclaiming” with Carolyn Murphy; “Entwine: The Avocado Sculptures” with Ghost and John; “New Bloomsbury Set Silks” with Bloomsbury Festival & Kinetika:

“Div(our)sity”
By: Molly Ovenden

What does it mean
To stop–to dream
To really see?
For you and me
To listen to
TRUTH in
BEAUTY for
FREEDOM to speak
–to stretch our
Legs and really play!
To abide in community
To arms-open-wide
In marvelous diversity?!
Not as concept, but
As your soul bared
And linked in heart,
So, together…
Through this life
We now move.

“Avocado Realities”
By: Molly Ovenden

Landscapes of fruit
Green, creamy growth
Behold the roots’
Quest to meet the ground
Bound by glass and concrete
Sighs of life
In heavy cityscape haze
A catalytic courage
Escaping neon lights
And grey skyscrapes
A tumultuous change
Escalating flourishing flora
And higher rocks to climb–
A brave breath
Surrounded by people
And watery waves
–Gone to seed as
Conversations do
–Gone to nourish
…as pollinators do…

“Like Ships, Alike”
By: Molly Ovenden

Like ships we’ve passed
Through misty dark souls
Of night in silence
–creating holes in eternity
As we’ve travelled
Too long in opposite
Directions
Misunderstood
Bringing upon “us
And them” oppression

“Choices for Beauty”
By: Molly Ovenden

A choice to behave
No longer as blank
Faces and nameless shapes
A choice to resonate
No longer with what
I think and judge
At your declarations
Of right and wrong
No longer a cut-off
If we don’t agree–
Instead, a collaboration
Of souls gazing upon
Each other’s lives
As true, resounding Beauty

“Can I Write About Race?”
By: Molly Ovenden

Can I write about race?
So much confusion
And resistance tied
Up in milenia of shame.
Can I write that I’m
Grateful to have heard
You speak your name?
So much distrust
Burdened, not wanting
To contribute to what’s
Wrong, missing, brutal, untrue.
Can I write about your face?
Glowing such a portrait of
Beauty, of grace, of richness
Because we’re different.
I’m grateful to have met you…
A jewel in my heart
For always.
I’m not flippant.
I’m not performing on a stage.
I’m looking into your
Eyes of grey–
Grateful to have spoken
And to have heard
About your life as
We paused in Beauty today.

The following was written in response to “On the Beat” a walking tour with Chris Foster from Camden Tour Guide Association

“On the Beat with Chris”
By: Molly Ovenden

A collection of plane trees
Gathered for oxygenation joy
Wandering in sunshine
And animated tour guiding cheer
Of coppers meeting nurses
Of children left behind
Of Peter Pan adding levity
Allowing imaginations to run wild

A collection of gardens
Once secret for strolling
Transferred to common
Wealth of green space
Health and wellbeing
Walking, training, merriment
Flying, horse riding, parish colliding

A collection of memories
Of footsteps clip clopped
Sun shone through leaves
Of history pioneering
And statues offering their
Versions of past unfolded
All that’s redeemed by
Generosity of women who
Paved the way, who might be
Forgotten by mistake—
But, for these guides
And these placards in blue
Celebration and grateful adoration
For the legacy those
Have all left in their stride
Even their memory, a melody
Illuminating what’s true

The following was written in response to: Bloom of Australia a collaboration with Bloomsbury festival in London—a concert with live painting, piano playing, operatic soloists’ vocals, and cello performance…an immersive concert experience with floral arrangements, paintings on exhibit, and observation

“Upon the loss of dreams”
By: Molly Ovenden

Upon the loss of dreams
Hope sings as youth on a tidal wave
Beacons of treble ingenuity
Carrying folklore across many seas
And hickory and oak
And plane and bespoke
Flora floating upon an island’s waters
Sprinkling like tears from the skies
When promise of blooms and growth
Have shone clear as moonlight
Yet have been eclipsed by pain
Meandering lost in the dark night
Of the soul upon lament:
A holding pattern of hope from
Growth that’s blossomed before
Certainty of fragrance and flourishing,
Beyond the past, to hope once more—
And all the ocean’s cerulean
And all the paynes grey of disillusion
And all the royal hopes of violets and blue
Hold fast to bouquets of grasses
Which once held the winds in the fronds of their fuzzy silks—
An outpouring of new
A drink to silken a past dream
Reinvigorating a quietude
Of celebrating and freedom
To behold in hope
For times once upon
The loss of dreams…

Photograph: Molly Ovenden, Chris Foster, posing with the Beatles, in situ – Friday 20 October 2023 – London – Bloomsbury Festival

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