Poet Donna Ashworth

It’s as if she’s got a hotline to your head. She gets inside your mind, rummages round all those piles of messy-feely thoughts, even the ones in the darkest corners, then heads for your heart. 

Scottish writer Donna Ashworth translates our thoughts and feelings about life, love and loss into poetry that stuns in its simple complexity. 

Her beautiful words proved a salve for our battered souls and minds at the height of the pandemic. It was then that her precious poems went viral online. Her heartfelt musings were picked up by organisations as diverse as the UK's National Health Service, Amnesty International and Doctors of America. Celebrated actors recited her work, including Michael Sheen, Griff Rhys Jones and Vicky McClure. Her empathy, compassion and reassurance served as a beacon and blanket of comfort as we struggled under the weight of uncertainty and grief. 

This episode was a joy to make. Donna reads six of her poems for us, tugging at our heart strings as we go. She shares the astonishing fact that her artistry is not the product of endless tweaks and revisions. Her poems arrive overnight, fully-formed for delivery in the morning, her first drafts her final drafts. 

The six poems are copied below.  Not a chance you won't enjoy this one! Please share your thoughts on my website and subscribe to my baby YouTube channel (links below).  I'll get the video up in the coming days. 

Poems 

So Old  

You’re so old
they say
and I laugh
with a deep roar
rising up from my very soul
because how could that phrase
ever be anything
but magnificent?

She let herself go
they cry
and I smile
with every tooth in my head
because Mother Nature and I know
what a miraculous act
letting go
truly is.

You’ve changed
they say
and I am at once
completely fulfilled
and at peace
with my life’s purpose
because if I did not come here
to grow
then what was it all for?

Don't Prioritise Your Looks 

Don’t prioritise your looks my friend,
they won’t last the journey.
Your sense of humour though, will only get better.
Your intuition will grow and expand like a majestic cloak of wisdom.
Your ability to choose your battles, will be fine-tuned to perfection.
Your capacity for stillness, for living in the moment, will blossom.
And your desire to live each and every moment will transcend all other wants.
Your instinct for knowing what (and who) is worth your time, will grow and flourish like ivy on a castle wall.
Don’t prioritise your looks my friend,
they will change forevermore,
that pursuit is one of much sadness and disappointment.
Prioritise the uniqueness that makes you you,

and the invisible magnet that draws in other like-minded souls to dance in your orbit.
These are the things which will only get better.

History Will Remember When the World Stopped

History will remember when the world stopped
And the flights stayed on the ground.
And the cars parked in the street.
And the trains didn’t run.

History will remember when the schools closed
And the children stayed indoors
And the medical staff walked towards the fire
And they didn’t run.

History will remember when the people sang
On their balconies, in isolation
But so very much together
In courage and song.

History will remember when the people fought
For their old and their weak
Protected the vulnerable
By doing nothing at all.

History will remember when the virus left
And the houses opened
And the people came out
And hugged and kissed
And started again

Kinder than before.

You're Not Imagining It...

You’re not imagining it