Is it better to be good or honest? Ailsa Gillies reflects on the lineage of ‘good’ people that have come before her, noting that self-sacrifice is not romantic, but a quiet stirring of resentment and grief. Continue reading Inherited Goods
Big Feelings in a small world. This poem comes from the healing found from internal reconciliation, not from the repentance of those who hurt you. Continue reading Big Feelings
Start at 26. Start at 40. Start at 65. Ailsa Gillies reflects on what it means to reclaim your lost light. Continue reading Lost Light
A reflection on martyrdom, the lack of nobility in suffering and self-sacrifice drawing on both the parallels between Camus’ Myth of Sisyphus & the Christ image of bearing the cross. Continue reading Handmade Holes
“If I can’t find where I belong in the world, then I’m going to create it.”
An honest account of almost giving up, of fear, doubt, and the quiet resilience it takes to walk a path of your own making. Continue reading I almost abandoned myself
A poetic follow-on from Prodigal Son, a dialogue with a shedding persona, Ailsa Gillies makes an empowered declaration of what it means to embody the Self. Continue reading Crystallised Self
Jung would say the psyche speaks in images, myth and symbol. This piece is a dialogue with a persona that Ailsa Gillies let die. Continue reading Prodigal Son
Going from “if only” to “I am”, this poem moves from frustration and separation to reunion and liberation with the body. Ailsa Gillies celebrates her body for its wisdom during a small bout of illness. Continue reading Every Body Knows
A poem born in the midst of Storm Amy, Ailsa Gillies speaks to the maiden, the mother and the crone. An ode to the grieving, evolving and forgotten women. Continue reading Woman, you are
Feeling nostalgic? Milky Chance’s Trip Tape III is a sun-soaked, folktronica-filled trip back to the 2010s. Ailsa Gillies advises sunglasses for this — even if it dropped in September. Continue reading Is Milky Chance bringing back the 2010s?
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