So, Mr Moon, how are things tonight As you flood my room with your cold, bright light? How are things looking in Somalia and Peru? If you could change our world, what would you do? Would you feed the hungry children and enrich the poor? Would you banish the wolf from humanity's door? Would you fix all the damage we have done to each other To sibling and rival, father and mother? Would you fill us with love instead of with hate Would you help if you could, or leave that to fate? What of rainforests, the earth and the rivers? We've so many takers, with very few givers. As you gaze down below on your silent stay Do you glean any wisdom to brighten our way? Or do you simply sail on, in a cold display Oblivious to all, as we wait for our day? Annie
A Necklace of Stars is a meditation on childhood, viewed from the other end of life. Older people have made poems, songs and embroidery themed around childhood lullabies for the “Necklace”; we’ve also invited written responses to the pandemic, so that people can share their experiences as an antidote to lockdown loneliness. Here Annie revisits the Man in the Moon of childhood, to ask some difficult questions. A Necklace of Stars, working with older people in Derbyshire, is supported by Arts Council England, Arts Derbyshire, DCC Public Health and Derbyshire County Council Home Library Service. This project is particularly aimed at countering isolation; during the pandemic we’ve been working using distance methods – post and phone conversations.
arthur+martha 