Issue 5: Insight into our first Creative Sessions in December

ENO Breathe is a project I have watched from a distance, and with huge admiration since it began. I was delighted when the ENO asked me to come and join the team for a while. But, it was a daunting prospect too. I wanted to make sure that my contribution as a writer would provide an interesting texture to the work that was already happening, not an unwelcome curve ball. 

Having sat in on a couple of sessions, to understand a bit more about ENO Breathe, I wanted to start my work by asking questions. Staying true to the lullaby thread that runs through ENO Breathe, I asked one twilight group “Who needs a lullaby now?”,  the answers came through via chat and on screen… Family, Friends, Children, The Government, Trees, were all mentioned. One idea stuck in my head: A lullaby for the spider who has her web blown down by the wind, but starts again each time. I loved it for its perfect simplicity but universal relatability.

In the next twilight session that I attended –  we expanded on this idea, and began writing lines for our Lullaby to the Spider. We collected lots of lines and ideas about how best to comfort the spider, and came up with a poem made up from various lines which felt like a great starting point for a lyric…

Relax little spider, Relax your toils, 

Be still you are hidden from view.

Calmly spin the thread of soothing silk, 

The promise of jewel dew. 

 

Keep on spinning sweet spider do, 

The silky strands you weave, 

Though storms disturb your gossamer home, 

For now, be still and bask and breathe.

ENO then hosted two sessions – one online and one in person at the Coliseum – specifically designed to include some creative writing work. An opportunity to meet and have fun, and to experiment with some creative word writing.

For each session, I prepared two prompts. For our online session, they were:

• Describe an image or a sound that soothes you.
• What makes you feel connected to the world?

Using the responses to these prompts, I invited participants to write a haiku. I love using Haiku. Because they’re so short, they encourage the writer to think really carefully and crystallise the important ideas into clear crisp images. Some beautiful poems were written and shared. Some people volunteered to read their work aloud, which was an incredible way to hear individual voices. A couple of Haiku are below – but we also now have an incredible collection of work all about what connects and soothes us, and we hope  to give them life in the future!

Waves lapping gently,

Susurration of the breeze,

Warm sun on my face.

 

On the rabbit hill, 

Wind blows away the day’s haste,

And I am at peace.

 

Silence then gurgles

Gasping, smacking and crying

Newborn my new love.

At the beginning of December, a group of us came together at the Coliseum in London. It was an overwhelming morning in many ways.  Lots of people finally meeting in real life having known one another online for many months, standing on the Coliseum stage and hearing our voices en masse for the first time. As a newcomer to ENO Breathe, it felt like a tremendous honour to be there. We sang together, and did a lot of talking and drinking coffee, and managed to fit in some really great creative work. With Suzi and the wonderful pianist Jon Brigg, we collectively set our spider poem to music – and I’m sure the song will appear in a twilight session some time soon! My creative prompts for this group were:

• What is breath?
• What keeps you grounded?

Once people had submitted their answers, I picked out several lines and divided them up randomly into four stacks. We also divided ourselves into four groups. Each group got a stack of lines, and were asked to work together to create a new poem using the ideas and images from the responses. We created four distinct poems, which speak to the importance of breathing, and the power of connection to the solid earth. 

I was struck by the feeling of ensemble in all the sessions I attended, and the tremendous community that ENO Breathe provides. I am so looking forward to seeing where this work can go in the future.