created for Louie Stowell

I’ve never met Louie, but I would really love to, because I know if we did it would be like we’d always known each other. They write an incredibly successful set of children’s books, have had work translated into several languages, and are the reminder that occasionally, the good guys do get the decent rewards.

Louie has a weekly thread on Bluesky where you are asked to tell people what made you smile over the previous seven days. This became a reminder during some very dark days last year that even the smallest thing is worth celebrating, and that I needed to stop looking for the big wins as validation.

Louie is the constant reminder that you make your own joy, a very great deal of the time, and that if that’s hard, it is time you placed effort into regular practice.

Hope is their Group Chat

Fuelled by     creative determination
undeniable belief and consideration
placard solidarity   t  hat slow drip
that persistence alters everything
transforms one voice  into a song
their point  each slogan  they conceive
pure brilliance    within protest’s throng.
Hope’s not just their project now     but

everything we need      belongs beside
the best ideas   required to better lives
that moment     derived   from one god
as love survives   thrives and is reborn.
    

Poem copyright S. Reeson © 2026

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