A Toad Chat with Annell and Vivian

Two poets from opposite ends of the pond engage in a chat. Annell- a professional artist, living in New Mexico, USA and Vivian- a dentist, resides in London, UK.

                                                                   Vivian and Zeus

Annell opened the floor by asking Vivian a few questions and the following dialogue ensued:

Annell:  Tell me every single thing about you in seven words.

Viv:        Shy, curious, fearless, hardy, adaptable, stoic, loyal

Annell: What year of your life, was the first birthday you remember?

Viv:       My fourth birthday…my parents were out and I was home alone with the nanny. Someone came by and dropped off a watch for my dad. I had great pleasure in taking it apart….much to my parents’ horror.

Annell: If you could begin your life again, what would you do differently?

Viv:      If I could, I would learn French and German. I’m language-daft, and have always yearned to learn - but, alas! Apart from that, I wouldn't change a thing.

Annell: Did you know either of your grandmothers and if you did, what were they like and how they influenced your life?

Viv:      I only have vague recollections of my maternal grandmother. I remember her to be soft-spoken. My paternal grand-mother was a ball of fire. She could single-handedly take on a nation…and win!  I like to think I’ve inherited something from both of them; the soft-spoken exterior calm layered over a fiery strong will.

Annell:What was your Mother like?  Do you see your Mother in yourself?

Viv:      My mum is 82 and still with us. She was a teacher and is quite a clever woman. She’s a guru on the social media front…even setting up Whatsapp groups for the grandkids and sharing on Facebook. She’s always on one internet course or another….and reads all the time. I hope I take after her- keeping a sharp mind - in my dotage. I actually see more of my late father in myself in terms of character, but I’ve taken after my mother in terms of loving to read.

Annell and Issa

And then it was Annell's turn to answer Vivian's questions:

Viv:       I know you’re a poet. I’m curious as to when you started writing poetry?

Annell: When my husband died, I was afraid to go out.  My sister told me to make a list, with instructions on how to get home.  It worked and I began to write, for example I would get worried about something, and I would remember to write it down, then I didn’t have to think about it then, I knew where I put it, and I could think about it later.  I think it was part of my grief, and I wrote and wrote, and haven’t stopped.  I find writing amazing.  Whose ideas are those?  Where do they come from?  Often I didn’t even know I thought that.  And after about 20 years of writing, I decided I had to embrace it as part of me.  I had to say I was a painter and I was a writer.  I write something almost every day.

Viv:       Amazing! And how much of an influence have your family had on who you are today?

Annell: That is hard to say.  I think I am becoming my own grandmother.  My mother was sweet and kind, I hope I am also.  My father was also kind, and funny.  Maybe I am too.  We were Irish and German.  And like you, I wish I had learned some other languages.

Your Mother in not much older than I.  I am 77, and can’t believe I have lived so long.  I don’t feel this old, I think I feel 20 years old.  This getting old, or maybe “older,” is new to me, and I think for each one of us,  it is a new adventure.  None of us really know how to be old, maybe being old is different than it used to be?

Viv: What would you say is your primary reason to face each new day

Annell: I love my life.  My work is an investigation, and every day is new.  Not nearly long enough.

Viv :     What qualities attract you to other people and what qualities put you off. 

Annell: I like interesting people.  People interested in the world.  I find boring people, boring.

Viv: Make sense to me! Now, if you were abducted by aliens and granted one last wish, what might that be?

Annell: Now that is the hardest question of all, if I could only have one, I would never be able to make a decision.  I would want more than one wish.  But with a wider vision, I would ask for peace for the world, that children would not have to suffer, nor their Moms or their Dads.  And in this idea of peace, Mr. Trump would go back to his private life, and allow the US, to make better decisions as they would affect the least of us.

We both feel we'd only just scratched the surface in this chat and will no doubt, carry on this conversation offline. We hope you enjoyed this as much as we did.