Project 3: Initial Narrative, Plan, and Practical Development
Introduction – “The Bird Who Came From Afar”
This short movie tells the story of a bird who travelled from far away, bringing with it the echoes of distant places and silent memories. Set to the hauntingly beautiful notes of Guns N ‘Roses, the video becomes a quiet tribute to journeys: both physical and emotional. A prelude to temporary but strong human relationships: ”Nothing Lasts Forever Even Cold November Rain.”
This is its final shape: I have been working on it since the beginning of this module, adding more context and photos to it, and, of course, the idea, the story, and the pictures are all mine.
Through a blend of visual styles (vintage textures and gentle cartoon-like moments), this short film reflects the dreamlike quality of the bird’s story. These effects highlight special moments: when the bird begins to speak of its travels, or when it takes flight again from the edge of the lake, continuing its endless migration.
This is not just about a bird. It’s about change, solitude, memory, and the quiet beauty of small things we often overlook. The bird becomes a kind of narrator, whispering a tale that many of us carry deep inside, of moving from one place to another, of longing, and of finding temporary stillness before the next flight.
It is a deeply personal story reflecting my journey and my life in China.
A Note.
I created this piece not just as a visual story, but as a kind of emotional journal. It began with a quiet visit from a bird, and from there it grew into a reflection on movement, reflection, and quiet companionship. The choice of music (November Rain) felt natural. It’s a piece that, like the bird, speaks without needing words.
I originally intended to embed this film in my blog, but due to technical limitations, I uploaded it to YouTube. I hope that in doing so, it finds a wider audience and resonates with anyone who has ever paused to watch a bird and wondered where it has been, and where it might go next.
Project Aims and Objectives
Aims:
- To create a body of poetic and narrative work reflecting themes of emotional vulnerability, longing, romantic memory, and transformation through travel.
- To explore personal and cultural identity through poetic form, influenced by writers like Stephen Fry, Moniza Alvi, Nikos Kavvadias, C.P. Cavafy, Xu Zhimo and Homer.
- To experiment with form, voice, and perspective in writing by removing the personal pronoun “I” in some pieces and leaning into it in others.
- To merge personal experience (the emotional journey through China and return to the UK) with literary influence and myth.
Objectives:
- To draft a series of poetic reflections and creative texts combining memory, love, travel, and personal transformation.
- To conduct contextual research into mythic narratives (Odyssey, Ithaca), poetic styles (Alvi’s fragmentation and metaphor), and autobiographical artists (Kavvadias, Xu Zhimo).
- To explore visual or text-based presentation methods (images with poems, learning log blog entries).
- To gather and reflect on feedback through peer review, tutorials, or self-assessment.
Starting Point & Theme
The project begins with a real emotional and geographical journey: a period spent in China, the deep connections made, the losses experienced, and the physical and symbolic return home.
An outcome, the metaphor of “the rare seashell” discovered and released, is at the heart of the project’s theme: how beauty, love, and identity appear and vanish, leaving traces that shape who we are and become another, separate piece of work.
Themes:
- Distance and connection
- Love and letting go
- Memory and its transformation
- Selfhood in movement
- Belonging and emotional landscapes
Practical Activities
- Write 3–5 poems inspired by moments from China and my return to the UK.
- Respond creatively to key texts (She-Cell, Ithaca, The Odyssey, Bitterness).
- Translate journal reflections into creative prose or poetic monologues.
- Explore how removing or emphasizing “I” affects emotional impact.
- Experiment with pairing writing with images or sketches (e.g. from your travels).
Research Context
Key research includes:
- Literary influences: Homer, Stephen Fry (Mythos, Odyssey, Iliad), Zhimo, Alvi, Cavafy.
- Artists Exploring Absence and Presence: Kavvadias.
- Themes: Love, migration, myth, masculinity, emotional identity.
- Techniques: Free verse, prose-poetry, fragmented structure, visual-poetic hybrids.
Audience
The intended audience includes:
- Peers and tutors (for formal review)
- A broader literary audience interested in contemporary poetic storytelling
- Potential curators or online publishers of personal and poetic writing
The project may result in a collection of short-form poetic works or an experimental zine combining image and text.
Sustainability & Adaptability
- Time is a boundary: managing emotional material requires pacing and self-care.
- I’ll build on sustainable methods from Project 2 (journaling, sketching, poetic drafts).
- If things change, your themes allow flexibility—you can shift from poetry to prose or visual-textual formats without losing your thread.
A poem
My (Moniza Alvi infuenced) own SHE-CELL…
& also
Inspired by Niko’s Kavvadias ”ΠΙΚΡΙΑ” BITTERNESS
Ό,τι αγαπούσα αρνήθηκα για το πικρό σου αχείλι
τον τρόμο που δοκίμαζα πηδώντας στο κατάρτι
το μπούσουλα, την βάρδυα μου και την πορεία στον χάρτη
για ενα δυσεύρετο, μικρό θαλασσινό κοχύλι…
I refused everything I loved for your bitter lip
The terror I felt jumping onto the mast
the compass, my night watch and the course on the map
for a hard-to-find, small seashell…
Kavadias, N. (1975) Traverso. Athens: Kedros. Poem: Pikria.
“The Rare Seashell”
He was walking alone by the edge of the sea,
where the tide had just whispered its secrets to shore.
The sun was soft, the wind was still,
and something shimmered at his feet.
A rare little seashell:
not just beautiful,
But unlike any he had seen before.
Delicate.
Mysterious.
Alive with the colours of the deep.
He bent down, lifted it gently,
And for a moment, the world stopped.
He imagined what it might mean
to keep such beauty,
to hold it close,
to place it on a shelf;
His secret miracle.
But something in him knew:
It belonged to the sea.
And the sea belongs only to itself.
To keep it would be to kill it.
To take it would be to silence its song.
So he placed it back,
let the waves reclaim their treasure,
and stood watching
as the ocean swallowed it whole once more.
He walked away with empty hands,
But a heart quietly full.
Because this was a one-in-a-million moment.
A kind of luck few ever meet.
He had found beauty so rare,
he couldn’t even dream of it.
And though he could not keep it,
he had seen it.
He had touched it.
And that was enough.
Some never find such things.
Some never recognise them when they do.
But he had.
And it changed him.
Some never see such beauty.
Some never recognise it when it’s there.
But he did.
And though it was bittersweet,
that glimpse,
That moment,
It was a kind of
unconditional
True love.
Personal Narrative-Reflection on “The Rare Seashell”
This poem came to me not just as a piece of writing, but as a deeply lived emotional truth. I wrote “The Rare Seashell” during a time when I was trying to process the complexity of love that doesn’t belong to you: love that touches you, changes you, and then asks to be let go. A love for a person or a place that fosters a sense of belonging. Inspired by Kavvadias’ Πικρία, a poem that speaks of sacrificing everything for a brief, bitter-sweet kiss, I found myself echoing that kind of devotion, but through a quieter lens: not through surrendering everything in desperation, but through the quiet dignity of restraint.
The seashell in my poem represents something (or someone) rare. A moment of connection that was so profound and unexpected, I almost didn’t know what to do with it. It was delicate, like the shell itself. Something too beautiful to be kept, and maybe not meant to be mine. I knew instinctively that to try to hold onto it would have been to damage it, to silence what made it special. So, like the man in the poem, I let it go. That moment of release wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. And strangely, it made me feel more whole.
What struck me while writing was how full I felt, even in letting go. That moment of “empty-handed but full-hearted” wasn’t just a poetic metaphor: it was an emotional reality. It reminded me that the most meaningful experiences don’t always end with possession or permanence. Sometimes the most powerful encounters are the ones that stay with us in memory, not in our arms.
Writing this poem helped me see that beauty doesn’t need to be held tightly to be real. That love, or connection, doesn’t always have to result in something concrete. Sometimes, just recognising it, honouring it, and walking away is enough. That realisation gave me peace. It helped me understand that I had experienced something rare, and that in itself is a kind of luck, even if it came wrapped in sadness.
In a way, this poem became a kind of emotional compass for me. It helped me navigate through confusion and longing, and it reminded me that not everything beautiful is meant to be kept. Some things, places, or even some people are like the sea. You can stand beside them, you can admire their depth and movement, but you cannot own them. It creates a storm by letting them go, but then the sense of being there fills your heart, knowing that you have experienced something unique.
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