THIS IS MUSIC
We refer to the days around Christmas and New Year as the festive season. But for many, the pressure to have a good time actually causes deep stress, and, in some cases, even profound loneliness.
It is at this time that we celebrate the irrepressible poetry of Margaret Clough, whose good humour has made her beloved throughout the poetry community of Cape Town and beyond. Now in her late 80s, she started seriously writing poetry when she was about 70, after retiring as a soil chemist.
“I was a very late developer as a poet and very hesitant to make my poems public. I have a better idea now of what a poem should be like, but I still make lots of mistakes. I am fortunate in having had good teachers.”
At an age when most people’s lives tend to slow down, she continues to expand our awareness by making the world vividly alive in her poems. Her response to the difficult months of hard lockdown was to start writing a book of poems with her daughter and two of her granddaughters.
“My granddaughter Danielle and I felt we needed something that would keep us occupied, cheer us up, and help us all to stay in touch.”
This book, Living Locked Down, is currently out of print, but apparently a reprint is in the works.
The poems she wrote for it are a revelation. She slowly rediscovers her capacity for solitude. She finds new sources of joy and laughter in unlikely places. In one poem, she imagines what birds might actually be saying if we could understand them, with wickedly hilarious results.
Clough shares that her poems tended to be much sadder when she started writing.
“Perhaps that is because I am much happier now. Life has treated me well, and I am blessed with a wonderful family. But I didn’t deliberately try to write in one way or another. My voice, such as it is, just came to me.”
It is a voice that finds compassion for everyone, without taking the world too seriously.
“I do try to be kind and compassionate,” she notes, “but can’t say it comes naturally. I have had to live through difficult situations. The experiences of living with mental illness, losing my husband, my eldest daughter and many dear friends are probably what has affected me and shaped my attitude to life. My Christian faith has also been an important influence.”
In This is Music, she describes the retirement village choir to which she belongs:
“Nobody auditions for this choir.
We welcome anybody
who can stagger here with a walking frame,
or roll up in a wheel-chair.
We start with a deep breath.
Breathe in for a count of three.
Now breathe out for a count of ten.
Didn’t manage more than five?
Never mind. Go up the scale.”
It turns out that the sopranos haven’t turned up at all, and the altos haven’t learnt the parts they are supposed to sing. The poem ends:
“Oh well. Let’s all just sing together.
Doh re me soh fah lah te do.”
Clough makes us believe that this is a success story. We are always laughing with the people in her poems and learning to laugh at ourselves.
In the next few days, write a poem about an ordinary activity you perform regularly, which you consider to be boring. See if you can find something amusing and memorable in it.
Clough’s first two poetry collections, both published by Modjaji, are available at www.modjaji.co.za. Other titles are available at good book stores.
The AVBOB Poetry Competition reopened on 1 August 2023 and closed on 30 November 2023 at 23.59pm. Visit our website regularly at https://www.avbobpoetry.co.za/ for editing tips and advice as well as updates about upcoming workshops.