Ho Hum!
Life’s sometimes a bugger
You try and try to get by
And then unexpectedly
Life hits you in the eye
Or bites you on the bum
Ho Hum!
http://www.mndassociation.org/
Reflection
I looked at myself in the mirror
The other day and saw a
Stranger looking back at me
I mean I really saw a person
Wearing my clothes – but a stranger
She can’t be me!
Where did she come from – this sad
old dear, eyes filled with pain
Her skin is pale and her back is bent
Who is this stranger –
She can’t be me!
It’s very odd – she has my thoughts but
she thinks she sees a different me
Her back is straight, her eyes are bright
That’s the real me – it is, it is –
She’s the real me!
An anthology of poems and paintings
by Glenda and David Vibert
Journey’s End?
Sleep, sleep, you’ve travelled far
The journey has been a roller-coaster ride
You’ve seen a lot of places on the way.
We’ve climbed the hills together
Swum in warm seas, danced and laughed,
Cried and loved.
Sleep, sleep, the road is getting rough
But it’s alright to stop now.
I’ll keep watch – you’re safe with me.
I’ll be with you.
Sleep, sleep, sleep now – soon
It will be day.
Glenda and David with Welsh Assembly Member
Lorraine Barratt at the “Oops” launch
** Poet inspired by her
disease **
A former teacher releases a poetry anthology
inspired by her battle with Parkinson's disease.
BBC Interview
If you would like to order a copy by post for £6 including postage and packaging, or make a donation, please call the Oops fundraiser, Trish Dunford, on 01656 766 755 or email her at trishNOSPACES@NOSPACESdunford.eclipse.co.uk {Please remove the NOSPACES }
SALLY ROE ARTICLE
Poetic Inspiration
Have you ever thought to yourself; “I’d love to write a book… one day…?”
Glenda Vibert, an English teacher and deputy head in Penarth, Wales, had been writing poetry her whole life, but as for writing an actual book – well, she was always too busy to do anything about it. Instead her writing ended up getting shoved to the back of a drawer.
And there it might have stayed, if Glenda’s retirement had gone according to plan. However, in 1996, almost immediately after she left school for good, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Her husband, David, is now her full-time carer. Life has been far from easy over the last few years, and another terrible blow struck the couple when Glenda’s beloved sister-in-law Edwina Vibert-Wilson, a talented artist and lecturer at Canterbury College, was diagnosed three years ago with motor neurone disease. Edwina died earlier this year, and Glenda and her husband David have both been profoundly affected by her death. David describes his sister as “an incredibly brave woman, but eventually she just couldn’t fight it any more.”
Edwina held her last art exhibition a month before she died, and during the difficult months leading up to Edwina’s death writing poetry, which had always been an incidental part of Glenda’s life, became even more important to her. Poetry became a way of exorcising her demons, of expressing the complexity of her emotions and experiences.
As her writing became more urgent, Glenda decided that it could do more than function as a private, therapeutic process. Witnessing the help and care that Edwina received from her local Motor Neurone support group in Kent had already prompted Glenda to think of ways that she could help as well. “I’ve never been much of a sporting person,” she explains, “so I started trying to think of other ways that I could raise money, and that’s where the idea of publishing a book came from.”
So the manuscript drawer was finally opened, and Oops! is the result.
The title, Glenda explains, alludes to the physical effects of Parkinson’s; “I do tend to drop things and twitch a bit,” and many of the poems take the disease as their subject matter. Whilst some are understandably poignant and sad, many are funny, defiant and spiked with caustic wit.
Having spent her working life as a teacher and magistrate, it is perhaps understandable that the loss of control and authority are the enemies with which poems such as Reflection do battle; “Where did she come from – this sad / old dear; eyes filled with pain / Her skin is pale and her back is bent / Who is this stranger – she can’t be me!” Other poems deal with the reactions of others to her illness; “Lost to others who mean / Well but still patronise. ‘Does she take sugar?’ / Pity in their eyes”.
The determination not to give in informs much of this collection. In Autumn, the narrator instructs us to; “Look well and look intently / At every coloured thing / And save it up for the winter / When you’ve forgotten spring”. Many of the other poems in this collection read precisely like these ‘coloured things’, memories of the different seasons, beloved pets and nature, written so that they can be treasured not just by the author but by her readers as well.
The book is illustrated with a series of paintings by Glenda’s husband David Vibert. A former Slade scholar & art teacher, David’s paintings are often abstract and loosely figurative and they sit beautifully with the poems they were chosen to accompany.
Jane Asher, the president of the Parkinson’s Disease Society, has praised the book, saying “It utterly avoids the obvious trap of being either falsely optimistic or relentlessly gloomy and manages to be ruthlessly honest about the devastating effects of incurable, progressive disease, while at the same time being full of life and humour…irresistible to anyone who enjoys clever poetry and beautiful paintings!”
Glenda’s story has already been featured on the BBC, and she is already planning a series of concerts and local events to boost her fundraising efforts. If you (or a friend) could do with a bit of poetic inspiration, then why not buy a copy and support this very worthwhile cause at the same time?
Oops! costs just £5 and all proceeds go towards research into both Motor Neurone Disease and Parkinson’s.
It is available to buy.
If you would like to order a copy by post for £6 including postage and packaging, or make a donation, please call the Oops fundraiser, Trish Dunford, on 01656 766 755 or email her at trishNOSPACES@NOSPACESdunford.eclipse.co.uk
{Please remove the NOSPACES }
Cheques to: White Lodge, Heol Simonston, Coity, Bridgend CF35 6BE
Parkinson’s inspires poet for new book
May 3 2008 by Katie Norman, South Wales Echo
A POETRY anthology inspired by its author’s battle against Parkinson’s disease is about to go on sale.
Former magistrate and deputy headteacher Glenda Vibert, from Penarth, has written poems in her book Oops! about her personal experiences with Parkinson’s Disease.
Verses include humorous, witty, poignant and sometimes philosophical takes on the condition, which Glenda was diagnosed with in 2002.
She said the book was the result of her determination to maintain control over at least part of her life while raising money for charity.
It will raise cash for research into Parkinson’s Disease and also Motor Neurone Disease in memory of Glenda’s sister-in-law Edwyna Vibert Wilson, who died in February after contracting the disease three years ago. The book, which is dedicated to Edwyna, also contains illustrations by Glenda’s husband David, a professional artist.
David Vibert
Picture Gallery
David Vibert
Picture Gallery
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