I was very taken with the looking and the awareness of looking in this film (Earth). Added to this, what interested me was my struggle to make a narrative out of the information on-screen. I always want to make stories, to race to the end of things, to make meanings and can ‘short circuit’ the experience by jumping the gun. We are so ‘civilised’ sometimes that we hold life at arms’ length. There is almost a fear of having the actual experience. Perhaps a little fear of the woods, too.
My poem EARTH is about trying to slow down and be in the moment, to ground ones’ self in what is right there and somehow look again with new eyes. I tried to take away the need to ‘make sense’ and to imagine what a first look would be like.
Hampshire based Angela Louise Chicken writes poetry and has performed in London and across the South East. She works alone or in collaboration with poets from Southampton’s ARCHIMEDES’ SCREW community, started performing as one of Apples and Snakes SPRING POETS, and worked with ALPHAPOETICA, combining spoken word with music for Southampton’s Cultural Olympiad.
Her work often features themes of community in urban settings, but she is equally at home in nature, especially if there is National Trust tea and cake involved.
She has worked on projects teaching poetry and performance in schools and her work is featured on Hampshire County Council’s WRITING HAMPSHIRE website, mapping the county in poetry. She has also worked on radio and in podcasts. She has recently collaborated with artist Sarah Filmer on a limited edition hand-made book and videopoem.
www.facebook.com/AngelaLouiseChickenPoetry
email: angelachicken@gmail.com
Elemental Dialogues 