Branded Blog

Having planned a poetry party and asked some of the most wonderful, inspiring poets I know and admire to perform, I did the semi-idiotic thing of writing my birthday speech as a poem which I then had to perform! School-boy error, as they say, but I managed and have been asked to share them by some very lovely, loyal friends (those most important of creatures!), so they’re a little further down this page…

Sadly the day of my actual birthday (two days after the party), I heard of the sudden, absolutely shocking death of a colleague and friend from my P&G days, so it made for a day of very mixed emotions. Shelley was one of the most vivacious, warm, inviting people I’ve ever been privileged to know. Her sudden death from a stroke at age 41 while managing a Coca-Cola sponsorship team in Brazil for the world-cup not only shocked all of us to the core, but it brought into stark relief the fact that not one of use knows what time we have left, and for me it really brought my thoughts on being 40 home: nothing matters but those you love and who make life worthwhile.

Go celebrate them right now.

On 40

In these first 40 years

there are many things I have not done.

I have not made a million,

nor lost one.

I have not sailed single-handed

around the world.

I have not built an empire,

or lead an army.

I have not won gold

or been a bridesmaid.

I have not written a best-seller,

well not completely yet, at any rate.

I have also not said good-bye

too many times to bear.

Or been forced to give up

what I love most.

I have been fortunate.

I have seen a great many beautiful things.

I have been places both forgettable

and mesmerising.

I have caught my breath and I have been willing to let it all go

for a moment or two.

But most of all, in these 40 years,

I have found that this list,

this litany of things done and un-done,

matters far less

than the list that waxes and wanes around me.

The list that shifts

but, like the Southern Cross,

is always there when I need to be found.

The list that matters most is this other list,

the list of those who bear witness to all

the short moments and long years of my life.

That list is the list that I am happy

to have traded my first 40 years for.

Reflections on Youth Day

Every year Youth Day hovers

on the border of my birthday.

And every year I wonder,

where exactly is that line?

When you turn 30,

you wonder if you’ve crossed it yet.

When you turn 40,

you’re pretty clear that there’s no going back.

I wonder what happens when you turn 50?

Maybe our illusions have lessened by then.

But, so help me, I hope our dreams have not.