A Milford Track highlight: The view over Clinton Valley from Mackinnon Pass (Photo my own) A while ago I wrote about walking the Milford Track solo. It's one of New Zealand's Great Walks, and one of the most famous walks in the world. Today and for the next three Fridays it's being published on Stuff.co.nz:…
Post Positive
My recent forays into the comments sections of Instagram and Twitter and Facebook have been jarring and brutal. Ignorance. Cruelty. Ignorance. Hatred. Racism. Ignorance. Bullying. Misogyny. Ignorance. Misogyny. Did I mention ignorance? And don't get me started on the spelling and grammar. Was it always this bad? I don't know if it's the discourses around…
Endings
Today I'd like to say a brief word about endings. We hear a lot about beginnings, and how difficult/important they are. "A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." (Lao Tzu) "The beginning is the most important part of the work." (Plato) "Every moment is a fresh beginning." (T.S. Eliot) "For fucksake…
Heartbeat
I have one beautiful daughter, but making her wasn't simple. I lost two pregnancies before conceiving her, and three after her, while trying for a second. I started this story years ago and dug it out and finished it just today. It attempts to put into words my belief that our children will always be…
Welcome, beautiful boy
A year ago today I was standing in front of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre museum in Paris with my daughter, speaking to my ex-partner (my daughter's father) via FB Messenger, reassuring him and telling him to take deep breaths, to trust the doctors, and to have faith. He was about to witness the…
The most usual lie
I wrote this poem some years ago, but I have taken it out today and dusted it off, editing it here and there. I removed a whole verse and changed words and line structure and some punctuation. It feels more authentic now. Sometimes revisiting a piece reminds us how far we have come, and how…
Today
The world has become still. The voices of the dying are terrifying in their silence. We are grieving what is lost, and what will be lost. We are separate, but united. We are ALL the frontline. We do not know exactly what our world will look like when it reboots. But for today, I am…
Punctuation is SEXY (and using it properly will get you more dates online)
So I have a gripe. A grammarian gripe, if you will. A punctuation protestation. I'm pissed off. I'm aghast. I'm fed up. I'm THIS CLOSE to giving an unsuspecting passer-by a good slap. And you, lucky readers, are about to hear all about it. Read that sentence again. Take particular note of the plural: readers.…
If it’s Left, it’s Right
This poem is about finding our way as we navigate intimacy and vulnerability and new spaces in our lives. I wrote it very quickly, although it had been whispering to me for some time, in my head. Sometimes I sense when a piece needs to be written: I feel an "itch" on my mind and…
Writing small
I posted this wonderful quote on my Instagram account today. (bellbirdwords). This is so important, and it's an issue I help many of my clients with. It's closely related to the "show, don't tell" rule; another vital principle of good writing that I'm often reiterating to beginner writers. It's tempting to think you have to…
Patricia Bell, Author 