Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope: Selected Poems are sketches of people and places that have left a deep impression with author Josephine Chadwick. Her poetry collection was written over the last twenty-five years, and most of the 24 poems each fit on less than a page.
“I worked in a government employment exchange from leaving school to getting married, and have always lived in the North of England. I moved from Manchester to Sheffield, when I married a steelworker.
“We brought up six children and I have always been happy as a homemaker and mother. I live very happily in a garden suburb on the border of a national park. I like music and books and the theatre.
“My late husband and I used to go rambling, but I can't walk far now. This is my first book and my last!”
Breaking Free
Came an exotic bird to my quiet bower
Asked: Is there anywhere you’d rather be?
You could see birds of paradise, rare flowers
Or explore coral reefs beneath the sea.
I’ll fly you anywhere … say Mandalay
Or sail around the timeless isles of Greece
Revel in the excitement of Bombay
Or in Tibet find spiritual peace.
So! All the world to choose from – how surreal!
Kaleidoscopic, spins your head round. I tried imagining
how it would feel …
Someone like me who needs family around.

Fear of the unknown led me to refuse
And restless now I sit bemused.