Ingrid Prosser
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Poet


The Singing Stream


​Contents:

Three poetic cycles:

  • Song of St David’s                                     (11 poems)
 
  • La Baie de Somme                                         (9 poems, plus glossary of French words and phrases used)
​
  • A Cornish Pilgrimage                        (10 poems)

19.8cm x 12.8 cm
83 pages


​

"You create such vivid images with your writing. You have inspired me to want to write poems too. My favourite poems are Le Quartier des Marins - vivid imagery of the flowers; William of Normandy - such strength of intent comes across; The Market - puts myself in the experience. Please keep writing poems - your talent is obvious.”
- Meriel Field.
The Singing Stream Prosser
Purchase a copy of The Singing Stream –

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  • St Bride’s Bay   (extract)
          (from Song of St. David's)

St. Bride’s Bay
On a cool spring morn
The sea as grey as the sky.
And yet, there is a lightness upon the sea
A flow of light over wave and wave and wave
A muffled light of silver-grey
Across the wide, wide sea
To faint horizon’s curve.



  • St Valery-sur-Somme   (extract)
          (from La Baie de Somme)
​

St. Valery-sur-Somme, située à la Baie de Somme,
   where wide flowing river meets the sea.
St. Valery-sur-Somme, high on the hill
   with the castle ramparts old and still.
St. Valery-sur-Somme, once home to the sailors,
   bringing back their catch from the sea.
St. Valery-sur-Somme,
   walkway, Port-way, steam-train railway,
   bustling with pleasure in the summer sun.


​
  • St Michael’s Mount   (extract)
          (from A Cornish Pilgrimage)

I felt as a pilgrim, that autumn morning,
The day we went to St Michael’s Mount
Excited, and urgent – eager to get there
All other considerations flung away.
​


Ingrid Prosser France
'The Singing Stream' is a book about places – three particular places, in Wales, Cornwall and France. In each place, I was on holiday; walking, exploring, visiting churches and other buildings, immersing myself in the history and in local preoccupations, both past and present. My poems are of seascapes and townscapes; they explore the natural world, historical figures and myth. There are religious and artistic connections; and of course, my responses to all these things.

Each of the three cycles has its own particular atmosphere. The sea plays a great part – in Wales, we stayed on the Pembrokeshire coast, and in Cornwall, not far from Land’s End. St Valery-sur-Somme in France, is on the Picardy coast. In each place, we saw the sea every day.

I don’t recall any mention of the 1st World War while in St Valery, or in Le Crotoy, the town on the other side of the Bay; but they are rich in references to earlier history. One of my poems is about William of Normandy (‘Soon Conqueror to be’!) and another about Joan of Arc. In her own time, Joan was known either as Joan the Maid or The Maid of Orleans – Jehanne la Pucelle or La Pucelle d’Orleans. I have performed my poem (entitled Jehanne la Pucelle)
​a number of times, and write more about it here: Jehanne la Pucelle

Contents

View from my Window I

Tui
The Wind
The Rain and I
Kereru
Cloud Shadow verses
Rain
Winter
Dawn Rain
White Bird
Cruise Ship Crossing
View from my Window II
Southern Cross
Moon
Dawn
Mahina Bay

A6 format, 17 pages
"Kereru"  (extract)

The Kereru!

Keepers of understanding
Elegant, Enigmatic
Richly feathered in gorgeous hues – so
Exquisite; surely a
Royal pigeon? – yet sits
Upon the wires as our friend.

"Cruise Ship Crossing"  (extract)

A triangle of sea, we have, in our view
And we watch the waters in all their hues.
Now, a grey day, with a languid grey sea
And now a rough one, with white horses chasing
And this day, a flat sea, mirroring sky blue.
view from my window Prosser
Purchase a copy of View From My Window - $13 
including p&p for NZ orders 
Contact me to order copies (and for international postage prices).
​
‘I feel Ingrid's poetry to be transformative.  As I read or hear the words it is as though they are painting pictures in my mind so that I am seeing what she sees and feeling what she feels.’  - Helen Prosser
‘Thank you for the beautiful poems. What a talented lady is Ingrid!
​​-
Maureen Hawley

Rona Wharf   (extract)

The roaring of the wind on Rona Wharf
The ceaseless waves, 
                                             washing, 
                                                          washing, 
                                                                       washing the shore

 Bathing Party   (extract)

Wings arise, and flap, flap, flap
 and gulls descend moment to moment anew,
     hurrying to join the party
        in the evening light.


The White Heart   (extract)

Crimson are the tongues of men
   who lie in splendour;
And burnt to dust the hearts 
   of their womenfolk
Or marched away as though to war
and lost in muddy mire or pool
   along the way.
​
bathing party Prosser
Purchase a copy of Bathing Party - $14 
including p&p for NZ orders 
​Contact me to order copies (and for international postage prices).
​
​


Contents

Bathing Party  
Spring  
Rona Wharf   
This wet, green May   
White Bird   
Whitebeam   
At Mythe Pool   
The Flame
Light Obscured
The Light of the Autumn
Deo Gracias
Winter Moon
The White Heart
Winter Peace
​

A6 format, 26 pages

'The Flame' on YouTube
​“An amazing little book, it holds healing qualities only the natural world can bring.  The flow and shift of the words carry life's heartbeat.”  Maureen Hawley
​“Thanks so much for the book, it’s fantastic, can I get another for my friend?”  Karen Burne  

Love on a Hey Day Prosser



Purchase a copy of Love on a Hey Day  
​- 
$11 including p&p for NZ orders 
​ 
Contact me to order copies (and for international postage prices).
Extract from

"The Grey Sentinels"

 Sentinels of grey, they stand upon the hill
 Overlooking the sweep of the land.
 Their roots go deep,
   through the earth they have dug
 And now stand tall upon the land.
 They are watching and learning
   and feeling deep
 They always know what has gone awry.
 We can learn from the trees
 If we stand at our ease
   and feel, the depth of the earth
 The wind will speak
   through the rustle of the leaves
   whispering in our ear.
 The soil shall tell
   through our feetly soles.....
                                
                     Contents



                          The Grey Sentinels
                          A-top the Malvern Hills
                         Winter Stars
                          A Little Monologuing
                          And west sinks the golden sun
                         Winter Lights
                          Love on a hey day
                          St. Nicholas
                          A Monastery Garden

​A6 format, 16 pages

'The Grey Sentinels' on YouTube
“You are a master – no, mistress! – of description.”  Geoff Booth  
“Your poems give me such a good feeling. Beautiful words and imagery.”  Wendy Hansen 

View From My Window Prosser
View From My Window
Bathing Party Prosser
Bathing Party
Love on a Hey Day Prosser
Love on a Hey Day

​Special offer

Purchase all three books for - $25  including p&p for NZ orders
​

​Contact me to order copies
(and for international postage prices)

View From My Window

All the poems in ‘View From My Window’ are inspired by the natural world and our interaction with it, specifically during our two year sojourn in Wellington’s Mahina Bay (situated on the opposite side of the harbour from the central city). Here, we were tucked away on the hillside amongst the ferns and trees, surrounded by tui and kereru, grey warblers and bellbirds (and mosquitos, of course!).

Our triangle view of the sea presented us with a constant parade of boats – yachts and ferries and freighters, and gleaming white cruise liners. The sunsets over the sea were often spectacular.

I wrote numerous poems while in Mahina Bay; the poems in this collection are all about things I saw and/or heard through the windows or while in the garden.​

‘Kereru’ was recorded as part of our Piano & Poetry DVD filming project in 2020 (funded by Creative New Zealand) – it’s in Programme 3.

Bathing Party

Love on a Hey Day

As in my first collection of poetry (‘Love on a Hey Day’), the majority of the poems in ‘Bathing Party’ are inspired by the natural world; some written while I was living in Gloucestershire, in the UK, and some written since arriving to live in Wellington, NZ (dubbed ‘the coolest little capital in the world’ by Lonely Planet!). The remaining poems in the collection are responses to certain experiences & emotions; with themes including spirituality and history, religion and music.
 
‘Deo Gracias’ was inspired by a performance in Gloucester Cathedral of Benjamin Britten’s ‘A Ceremony of Carols’.
 
My long poem ‘Light Obscured’ is about the events of a very long day: – A journey to London (from Gloucestershire), and a performance at the Greenwich Theatre of ‘Souvenir d’Anne Frank’, the theatre work based on my husband’s Piano Trio for Anne Frank, and in which he played the piano in the onstage trio.   

'White 
Bird' and 'Winter Peace' have been recorded for our Piano & Poetry DVDs, respectively in Programmes 3 and 1.
My primary poetic inspiration comes from the natural world, and 
I was fortunate to spend several years living and walking in the beautiful Cotswolds, in Gloucestershire, Britain. 
Most of the nine poems in this small first collection were inspired by such walks. The poems overall reflect a wider theme of love - love of nature, of course; and also human love, Divine love (if I may so essay), and the love that is at the heart of generous giving.


The poem "Love on a hey day" was written for a wedding - in fact my own! My husband and I were each looking for a poem to be read in our marriage ceremony, and Colin cleverly commandeered for his choice one of my favourites - "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love", by Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593). After some time of futile searching, I realised that the Marlowe poem was the only suitable poem in existence, and if I wanted another one, I would have to write it myself. I am very happy with the result, which wonderfully accurately describes what did happen, on a very beautiful, special day.

The poem "St. Nicholas" has already appeared in print - in
New View magazine (a journal supporting spiritual renewal in our times, inspired by Anthroposophy), in the Winter 2013/14 edition 

(issue 70).

Recordings of "The Grey Sentinels" and "Winter Stars" have been included in our Piano & Poetry DVDs, respectively in Programmes 2 and 1.


© 2021 Ingrid Prosser. All rights reserved.
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