Lighting The Dark

an Advent calendar for tender times

✨ Welcome and thank you for joining me on this journey to find glimpses of light in dark times. If this is your first email, you can read an introduction to the project here and find links to catch up with any posts you’ve missed at the end of this email. We are in the first week of Advent when it is traditional to burn a candle for hope, so that’s the theme running through all this week’s offerings. ✨

Today, a poem about holding onto our dreams when the world tries to crush them. A Portable Paradise was written by the British-Trinidadian poet Roger Robinson, who was born in Hackney, East London, the same place where I am writing to you. Aged 4, Robinson moved back to his family’s home in Trinidad, returning to England when he was 19. It was the 1980s and you will not be surprised to know that, on the streets of London, he experienced persistent racism. 

In this talismanic poem, Robinson confutes the stereotype that every black man is concealing a weapon. He tells us that what he is actually concealing is his reverie, his ability to call to mind magical memories of a beloved place and use them to stay hopeful and dignified in the face of daily degradations.

A PORTABLE PARADISE

And if I speak of Paradise,
then I’m speaking of my grandmother
who told me to carry it always
on my person, concealed, so
no one else would know but me.
That way they can’t steal it, she’d say.
And if life puts you under pressure,
trace its ridges in your pocket,
smell its piney scent on your handkerchief,
hum its anthem under your breath.
And if your stresses are sustained and daily,
get yourself to an empty room – be it hotel,
hostel or hovel – find a lamp
and empty your paradise onto a desk:
your white sands, green hills and fresh fish.
Shine the lamp on it like the fresh hope
of morning, and keep staring at it till you sleep.

Roger Robinson

Robinson’s portable paradise is a place of white sands, green hills and fresh fish. Mine is a place of rugged mountains, tidal rivers and wading birds. I wonder what yours is. 

And I wonder about the portable paradises of people living in refugee camps or detention centres, or trapped in unhappy marriages or jobs too small for their spirits. In difficult times, all of us needs a haven, tucked into our imaginations, well away from thieves and bullies. When our stresses are sustained and daily, it helps to find a quiet corner, even if only a corner of our mind, and shine a light on the dreams and memories that can bring us fresh hope.

I love this poem so much that I have memorised it so “I can carry it always on my person”. I hope you love it too.

Sophie ✨

If you would like to invite family and friends to join you in receiving this daily Advent calendar, the sign-up link is here.

If you have just arrived, welcome and thank you for sharing in the mystery and possibility of Advent with me. You can find an introduction to the project on December 1 and catch up with posts sent on December 2, December 3, December 4, December 5th and December 6th.