Poetry

I have been known to write from time to time. It comes and goes in waves, partly depending on how much else I have going on in my life. I can't *make* myself write, but having the space to read, write, and think into, is an essential part of the process... This is something I do for myself, and entirely separate from my counselling practice. However, I think there are certain similarities between counselling & writing poetry, and I've been pleasantly surprised when browsing poetry journals on the numbers of poets who are also counsellors & psychotherapists. Both require deep attention to words, image & metaphor; and the willingness to look inside yourself, listen to yourself. So saying, I work very hard to be genuine and honest ("congruent") in my counselling sessions - and if I share something about myself it is always because I think it will be helpful for my clients, not in response to my own need (we call it "self-disclosure in the service of the client"). But - with poetry, while I sometimes draw from my own life - I don't always *have* to tell the truth! It is an art form after all, not strict biography...

Below are some of my poems, with links to those published online. (I publish under the full/formal version of my first name, Antonia.)

Links in the poem name take you to the poem. Links in the journal name go to the journal website.

Rowan - Shared Stories Cairngorms

The Box - Northwords Now Autumn/Winter 2020 issue 40

Polish Fudge - Still Point Arts Quarterly no.40, “Food and Memory”, Winter 2020

Aphrodite Rising - Acumen issue no.99, January 2021

Demeter - Acumen issue no.100, May 2021

Persephone - Acumen issue no.100, May 2021

Words for the Dead - Acumen issue no.100, May 2021

A Benediction - Break in Case of Silence: New Writing Scotland 39 (2021)

The Cairn with its Back to Ireland - Northwords Now Autumn/Winter 2021 issue 42

The Incredible Shrinking Grandmother - Dreich Season 4 no. 10 (2022)

I Will Look - Dreich Season 4 no. 10 (2022)

Driftwood - Dreich Season 4 no. 10 (2022)