Day 21: "View"

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Today's theme: "View". This photo is a view
of the wisteria tunnel referred to in the poem below. 

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: Back to the gym today, where I did the usual workout, but decided I would add in a challenge test to see what my progress is like. I managed to do 2 x 30 supported pull-ups, then had a break and did some leg work. After 10 minutes I did 1 x 25 supported pull-ups. So: progress, thankfully, with 8 days to go. [Note though, it sounds easier than it was!].

Poem:

View.

Today is memory.

Through window grime

to park: the wisteria tunnel

where once there was a rocket

and a roundabout

long since gone.

where once I pushed a stroller

with grandparents

long now dead.

On Sunday I walked there with you

once-were-Helen. Mother.

We sat on the second wooden bench

your eyes closed/skin an empty shell.

My eyes blinded.

A young girl runs past, we stir.

There's a Labor Party BBQ. Speeches I can't hear.

I think of David Hicks. Your protest.

I want to tell you: He's free now Mum. 

Vindicated. I know you'd be pleased.

Through window grime
to park, and the wisteria tunnel:
Yes, I see the landscape of my years,
and the view of yours forgotten.


Merilyn Childs, 21/1/2015


[The gym I work out at has a view over a park where I walk my mother, who has Alzheimer's].

Days 19-20: "Burden"

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Today's theme: "Burden". 

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: On 19th January (yesterday) I walked for 5km. Today (20th January) I set myself a different challenge - to see how far I could walk carrying two buckets with 5 litres of water in each bucket. It turned out I managed only 1km. The pain my my arms and shoulder joints was tough, and I became worried I'd do an injury that would stop me achieving my overall challenge. I did this challenge because I wanted to understand more about the burden of collecting water for women in the developing world when pregnant. My small challenge was nothing compared to theirs. After the 1 km, I then did a fast 2 km through local streets.

Poems

From: http://girlsglobe.org/2013/12/12/the-burden-of-collecting-water-while-pregnant-2/

Burden

mine is a noun:

quick, flowing-

a blue bucket

on an asphalt street.

Burden Two

hers is an endless

relentless verb:

to.

Merilyn Childs 20/1/2015

Days 16-18: "Warming"

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Today''s theme: "Warming"
2012: Local people taking local action:
350.org and climatedots.org with the global slogan
"It's time to connect dots between climatic change and extreme weather"
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/350org/

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

Reflection: NASA has released data to show that 2014 was the hottest year in modern history. Climate change impacts different regions, countries and populations differently, and climate impact management is resourced differently across the globe as well. Climate change impacts on the most vulnerable in poorer countries and communities - including "the mother, the fetus and the newborn child" (Rylander, Odland & Sandanger, 2013). 

My progress: I completed the following during the past 3 days: Jan 16th: a 4 km walk, Jan 17th: gym, Jan 18th (more gym). 

Poems:

Warming I
"warming one's toes": hearth
&  home; winter fires/
hot chocolate/
the lights on low.

Warming II
lobster
boiled red:
                   dead.

Warming III
born into hot air
the dew long forsaken
the babies of potluck
sicken, horizon-blinded
by winter fires & lobsters
                   boiled
                   in the mouths of somewhere else
                   where the lights are low.



Merilyn Childs 18/01/2015

Day 15: "Gap"

HALF WAY THROUGH THE CHALLENGE!

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Today's theme: "Gap"

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: I began today with a visit to the gym. I did all round fitness training, and also focused on lat pull-downs as a way of preparing for the supported pull-ups. Today I achieved 3 x 30 lat pull-downs at 50 kilo setting. I could not have done this at the start of the challenge, so I'm pleased!!

Reflection: Because of people doing this challenge, more than $87,000 has been raised so far for World Vision Australia's campaign to improve the survival and health of babies in their first 30 days of life!

Today's Poem:

Gap

I squeezed in to the ball room.

Madeleine was there,

and an injured paramedic with a trainer.

I had to wait my turn.

It crossed my mind that it should be

bigger, cooler, better equipped.

Mental note (or so I said): 

"Next time after 10

There'll be a bigger gap":

#firstworldproblem

Merilyn Childs 15/01/2015

[World Vision reports that "child deaths have been almost cut in half, from 12.6 million per year in 1990 to to 6.6 million in 2012. Despite this welcome progress the Killer Gap report 2013 shows that millions of children, including the 6.6 million who sadly died in 2012, are still not benefiting from improvements."]

Day 12-14: "Acute"

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Today's theme: "Acute".
UNICEF recently reported the efficacy of the work they did after the Haiti earthquake,
with money raised through donations. Read the report.

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: This entry is for the 12th (I walked 4 km), the 13th (I worked out at the gym) and the 14th (I did hard physical labour around the house and did a 15 minute bike ride). This has allowed my shoulders to recover, ready for more work at the gym tomorrow.

Reflection: Sometimes cynicism exists about the impact of fundraising by NGOs on the lives of those the funds are meant to help. It's good therefore to read outcomes based reports from organisations like UNICEF to show how moneys raised change the lives of those they are meant to help. 

Poems.

12th January 2015:

Acute

behind the door

a mathematician

carves fine lines,

perfecting Division.

tasting Subtraction.

Yum. Saliva on chin.

He's never been hungry

Not even in dreams,

and when he comes out

Boo! the children scream.

Merilyn Childs 12th January 2015

[This poem is in response to cuts made to foreign aid by the Australian Abbott Liberal Government of AU$3 billion over 3 years on 15th December 2014]

13th January 2015:

acute

/əˈkjuːt/

intense, deep, sharp.

//pain//pain*

in the depths of where you died.

Merilyn Childs, 13th January 2015

[Sometimes even years after the loss of a child, living is like drowning in thick treacle.]

14th January 2015

acute

I'm not a story teller baby,

But I want to tell you this:

They have no idea

the knife will kill you.

They've waited for you

smiling, fearful, hungry.

They sing to you

as the cut is made.

Merilyn Childs, 14th January 2015

[This poem was written to reflect the fact that "Newborn sepsis is responsible for over 500,000 of the 3.1m newborn deaths globally. The infection is usually transmitted when the umbilical cord is removed with unsterilised materials. Applying a basic antiseptic which cost less than $1 helps to stop infections. This action reduces mortality by 23%" (Olagunju, 2014)]

Day 11: "Progress"

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Today's theme is "progress".
For example: Progress in Zimbabwe:
to support the fight in Zimbabwe against HIV/AIDS 

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: Today I tested my progress towards my goal. I can now do 1 x 30, 1 x 19, 1 x 15. So I have progressed since last challenge [30, 16, 13] - I'm moving forward.

Today's Poem:

Progress

it smells here
like the dawn gone bad.

I breath in

arm curls/dips

bench press, crunches:

hope/growing

hold.

hold.

it hurts like fuck.

but it's also morning,

and the sky is open.

I once heard someone say

"I will never see the cathedral built"

but regardless

they made the bricks

doggedly. daily.

Day 10: "Terrorism"

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Today's theme: "terrorism"

Today my challenge is the Charlie Hebdo atrocity.

Heaven
I wanted to believe in heaven.
When you died.
I tried.
I wanted to meet you,
having been so close
between rib and bone.
It stopped me dying
That pretence of you: 
spirit waiting.

Daughter: you died.
Heaven is a verb
used by terrorists.


Remembering Charlie Hebdo, and my deceased daughter.