You are so kind & thoughtful AND a wonderful poet and artist Evalyn. Hope things are good with you. Here’s a classic for National Poetry Day

“…Our Wandsworth teacher told us
how to tell ‘the black bib male sparrer’
from ‘the laidee one’, in her once common, now rare
south London chant... She’d yell from out
her Clapham grave to hear of sparrers in decline.
‘Parrakeets! You what?’”

@sophieherx.bsky.social #EcoSonnetChain (4/4)

Sophie’s sonnet, #10 in the sequence, brings together the toll of species loss and the parallel threat to social cohesion posed by gentrification by posing the interesting question: what do we mean by ‘common’?

#EcoSonnetChain #NewBootsAndPantisocracies @sophieherx.bsky.social

(3/4)

Except this week, it’s the final poem of Phase 1 of our Thursday posts (by Claudia Court), and the sonnet happens to be by GFC co-editor and New Boots protest calligrapher, @sophieherx.bsky.social.

So it feels like everything is pivoting at once. (No, we didn’t plan this. Are you kidding?)

(2/4)

Thanks Anne, very glad you enjoyed it. Looks like you made a fab erasure.

Thank you for bringing her to my attention, a lovely piece. Fly well, heavy bird. #KrystynaMilobedska

‘Stay off dairy!’ Warned the cardiologist.

V glad. Welcome dear. (I miss you Sasha!)

Too weird!