This morning I awoke with a thousand and one things on my mind, things to do, things to buy, things to say to the children before we leave for school - you know, the important stuff, such as 'What do you want for dinner?' and 'Are you up to date with your homework?'.
The washing needs spinning and hanging out, the dinner will need to be cooked and I need to go shopping for some more vegetables as the vegetable patch is getting a little bald.
The ACT Members Newsletter is to be published this morning and with it the launch of a great Prize Draw with 3 copies of Now tell me - how about you?. - And it was this thought that was foremost in my mind as, at last, I sat down at my desk. - It's National Poetry Day - hooray!
I drew a deep breath and cleared my head. I turned to Twitter and I'm thrilled to see that there are so many #NationalPoetryDay Tweets. It's magical, a whole range of poetic offerings which have given breath to new conversations and connections.
If you don't already have an account on Twitter, I recommend you set one up today. Simply type #NationalPoetryDay into the search bar and you will find a whole host of wonderful resources to share today.
Posts include poetry written by people with dementia, including a link to Guest Poems on Wendy Mitchell's blog post https://whichmeamitoday.wordpress.com/2018/10/03/guest-poems/
Wendy is a great example of 'high achiever' having been diagnosed with early onset dementia follow her @WendyPMitchell.
Snippets of poetry written by the greats such as, Wordsworth, Browning ,Keats and Wordsworth can be found alongside the great comical poetry of John Hegley and Spike Milliagan all of which may be remembered by someone in your group.
I particularly liked this short poem from Dad's Puns @DadsPuns
I dig
You dig
We dig
He digs
She digs
They dig
It's not a beautiful poem, but it's very deep.
However you choose to spend National Poetry Day this year, I do hope you will find some time to share a poem of some sort.
National Poetry Day PRIZE DRAW
We are so pleased to offer you the chance to win your own copy of Now tell me - how about you? Poetry to share with older people by Gill Johnson and Marilyn McGregor.
This is a beautiful collection of poems from Bonnie Day Limited. The poems have been tried and tested in care homes and other settings.
The poems have been shared successfully with older people, including those with dementia, to trigger reminiscence. Together with the Reminiscence Avenues (Top Tips, Reminiscence guides and conversation starters) included in the book they provide some great ideas to start conversation and to share experiences.
To enter the draw simply sign-up for our newsletter HERE