My name is Olga and I began writing back in 2005 after completing a writing and publishing course at Caulden College in Stoke-on-Trent.
Recently I have enjoyed writing poetry and to date I have had 6 poems published.
I joined Leek Writing Group 3 years ago and I enjoy listening to the other members readings of their work, which is of a very high standard and I would like to aspire too!!
Here is one of my poems and a short piece of prose which I hope you will enjoy.............................
Recently I have enjoyed writing poetry and to date I have had 6 poems published.
I joined Leek Writing Group 3 years ago and I enjoy listening to the other members readings of their work, which is of a very high standard and I would like to aspire too!!
Here is one of my poems and a short piece of prose which I hope you will enjoy.............................
A Staffordshire Moorland town.
I feel so very fortunate to be living in this place,
Surrounded by the country lanes and the sense of open space.
The people are very friendly, all strangers are made welcome,
The more I travel to other parts the more I love to come home.
The country-side around our town is beautiful and green,
There are some lovely walks around through meadows, hills and dales.
To wander in the river valleys is a never-ending pleasure,
Our lovely Staffordshire Moorland town is a place we need to treasure.
A Special Place
Today I went to a very special place, a place where I used to play as a child. Together with other children of various ages, I used to roam the fields and woodlands, climbing trees, skinny dipping in the river, gathering wild flowers to take home to our Mums. In fact we were real hunter-gatherers, picking bilberries and blackberries in season, mushrooms and sticks to light the fires.
Today the fields and woods were quiet except for bird-song. There was no sound of children laughing and playing, in fact no people at all in my special place.
I walked down to the wood that we called rhododendron wood because in spring it was a blaze of pink when the bushes were in flower, today there were very few bushes left and the wood was fenced in, so obviously people were not welcome to wander through the wood as we had done years ago. There is a tree on the edge of that wood with my name carved on it. I couldn't remember which tree it was and anyway my name would be so high up that I would not be able to find it as I cannot climb trees any more.
We children used to walk down the fields to the railway line and pick watercress from the stream. We were not supposed to walk on the track as it was still a fairly busy line, but no-one stopped us and danger was not a word in our vocabulary in those days.
The river looked lovely today flowing placidly on its way down the valley. How dared we go in there, none of us could swim? One day we saw a snake in the river and we all flew up the bank except for one girl, the eldest of us, who said "It's only a snake, it wont hurt you", but we were all up the bank by this time. One day by the watercress stream we saw an adder and again we ran like the wind mindful of it being poisonous.. There were whirlpools in the river and we always avoided these areas in case they pulled us under the water.
There are bridges now over the ditches that we used to jump over. The path is way-marked with arrows and stiles and wooden walk-ways make it easier to negotiate the boggy bits.
We had so much freedom in those days, we felt safe in our special place. There were no strangers there and the grown-ups only went there for an evening stroll. We used to play until the light began to fade and we would hear some ones Mum calling that it was time to go indoors
In these days of bulldozers and building everywhere I am so thankfull that my special place has remained un-spoilt and that I can still enjoy my memories of those years gone by and the friends and companionship we all enjoyed.
As I walked back through the last meadow before joining the road, I concluded that we were very fortunate in the freedom we enjoyed as children of that by-gone age.
Today the fields and woods were quiet except for bird-song. There was no sound of children laughing and playing, in fact no people at all in my special place.
I walked down to the wood that we called rhododendron wood because in spring it was a blaze of pink when the bushes were in flower, today there were very few bushes left and the wood was fenced in, so obviously people were not welcome to wander through the wood as we had done years ago. There is a tree on the edge of that wood with my name carved on it. I couldn't remember which tree it was and anyway my name would be so high up that I would not be able to find it as I cannot climb trees any more.
We children used to walk down the fields to the railway line and pick watercress from the stream. We were not supposed to walk on the track as it was still a fairly busy line, but no-one stopped us and danger was not a word in our vocabulary in those days.
The river looked lovely today flowing placidly on its way down the valley. How dared we go in there, none of us could swim? One day we saw a snake in the river and we all flew up the bank except for one girl, the eldest of us, who said "It's only a snake, it wont hurt you", but we were all up the bank by this time. One day by the watercress stream we saw an adder and again we ran like the wind mindful of it being poisonous.. There were whirlpools in the river and we always avoided these areas in case they pulled us under the water.
There are bridges now over the ditches that we used to jump over. The path is way-marked with arrows and stiles and wooden walk-ways make it easier to negotiate the boggy bits.
We had so much freedom in those days, we felt safe in our special place. There were no strangers there and the grown-ups only went there for an evening stroll. We used to play until the light began to fade and we would hear some ones Mum calling that it was time to go indoors
In these days of bulldozers and building everywhere I am so thankfull that my special place has remained un-spoilt and that I can still enjoy my memories of those years gone by and the friends and companionship we all enjoyed.
As I walked back through the last meadow before joining the road, I concluded that we were very fortunate in the freedom we enjoyed as children of that by-gone age.
