As Summer Hangs On
Dear friends,
How time ticks along, punctuated here by the time of the tides and the changes in colours of a coastal sky.
Now, where shall I start after such delays to be with you?
I was proud to be in the assisted suicide documentary made for the BBC by Liz Carr ‘Better off Dead?’, broadcast in May. This was after focusing on the topic for my June Byline Times column, and as most of my closest friends know, I am staunchly against the loosening of the law in the UK regarding assisted suicide. As Liz demonstrated, the pushing of AD law affects disabled people in the most frightening ways and devalues our worth as human beings. I respect all opinions but I do ask that before you enter any argument, you read and research what I say - unlike most commentators and, definitely unlike those who troll me on social media with misplaced and ill informed hatred.
Then, I have to say it. The election. But I won't drag on, other than to say that I used my postal vote because as a disabled woman I always feel it is a hard-won right to do so, and in terms of local politics, it wasn't hard which candidate to choose, and I'll always remain a socialist even while it feels as though we are on the endangered list. And while I feel many voted tactically for Starmer's labour, my misgivings remain – and it’s no surprise that his stance on disability is particularly unconscionable. I hope there will be changes within a society that feels fraught with a lack of focus, frightened and pushed towards the empty notion that endless greed, higher profit margins and now outright horrific thuggery that offers contentment in the world. Most of us know, I believe in my heart, that this is not true and I suggest we need to speak about it with united voices.
In June, I was delighted by a visit from my Mum and sister, who stayed in a hotel nearby in Hastings, I was also saddened with a new realisation. I remain severely and rapidly fatigued, prone to focal seizures which sneak out and take possession without much warning. For me it's the outcomes that are the worst to manage – travel is these days a multilayered near-impossible challenge. While I am the queen problem-solver with access, my pain and exhaustion is unforgiving and will not take prisoners. And as always, the better the facilities, the higher the cost.
“But the photo I feature this time is the happy memory of when I played at the delightful WOMAD festival as one of the headliners in 2019”
Part of The Naked Punk tour, every memory continues to make me smile and I remain thankful to beautiful human Liv Torc for inviting me to the wondrous HipYak Poetry Shack with so many magnificent poets.
Other equally happier updates include positives with my writing, poetry and fiction to be published later this year – more revealed soon – and successful edits on the novel now approaching its third draft.
I'm also pleased to share that I'm now the resident guest on a podcast called Salt Ripples. My old friend Ju Gosling set this up and our conversation is what you might expect from two older women, creative disabled activists, who've spent many years in the disability arts scene. Experiencing many overlaps with friends, on projects and workshops, gigs and talks. Ju has been a stalwart supporter of my work for many years, and I appreciated this sincerely.
Another creative update is that I've volunteered to write a column for my local independent newspaper, Hastings Independent Press, my second is out next week looking into potholes, pavements and dodgy dropped kerbs! Always check out my social media for news on such things.
And as the anniversary of my brain traumas draws closer I know that in the end, the best thing in the entire universe for me is to keep on writing, to keep the excitement of a new story.
Brightest blessings
More soon, as my birthday approaches! Wouldn’t you guess, I’m a Leo?
Penny x