Roving reporter Nicola spoke to actor and performer Anna Tammela from a park bench in London about the creation of her poem titled “Earth is a Woman in a Bathtub.” Inspired by breath, earth, and water.

So I was just kind of lying in the bathtub. And I started noticing all the similarities between the way that my body looked in the water and the earth. And as I was breathing, I realized that the water was moving. I was thinking, it's like when you're at the seaside and the waves of the sea are coming in and going out again. And I thought, “Is the earth breathing? Is this what's happening? Is that how the tides are created as the earth moves and swells?”

We are the earth

As I began noticing all the difference and similarities between my body and the earth, I thought, “Our body is the earth and the earth is in us. In a way, we're all the earth.”

I was so excited and inspired by those beautiful thoughts I got out of the water, grabbed my phone that was on the sink playing spa music, and started writing down sentences. This idea that we are the earth we live on. Everybody has their own Earth inside them. We have organisms on our body and in our body.

Anna speaks inspired by planet earth

We are the earth we live on. Everybody has their own Earth inside them.

A lot of my inspiration happens in the shower or the bath. It's that quiet time where you're connected to the water. And you feel free. As the poem poured out of me, I felt really strong and grounded. I felt a sense of power - you know that kind of grounding presence. It’s that same strength that I feel when walking in nature, when I'm around trees, or in a park with lovely green spaces and velvety grass everywhere.

Earth is a Woman in a Bathtub

Earth is a woman in a bathtub.
She bathes in peace, sprawled out still,
Shadowed by plumes of invisible cotton.
Core heat erupting through sinews,
Relaxing her roots and rigid foliage.
In the depths, caves lay dormant,
Shrouded by nets of growth,
And paramount stand summits,
Pinnacles pursuing paradise.

Her gaze is cast beyond stratosphere,
Exploring the outer-inner space.
Out, she breathes, in,
Out, sinking her spine, in,
Out, flooding her shallow well,
In, her shores swell, pulling the tide, creating marvels-

Rumbling thunder disturbs her current,
Reeling in her adventurous eye,
That caught a glimpse of paradise.
Planted seeds uprooted and discarded,
Replaced with rippling seismic waves.
Her jolts happen tsunamis.

In this porcelain playground, she is the maker,
Creator, being, shaper.
Matriarch.
She is the Earth that moves but is still,
The grounding presence that solidifies all ills.
Mother Earth, so she’s called,
A woman in a bathtub, our earth is formed.

"Earth is a Woman in a Bathtub" was created by

Anna Tammela who is currently writing a theatre performance about compassion and forgiveness. She loves walking in nature and discovering new species of plants.  

→ Randomly tagged

Anna was invited by Nicola Gale after a random conversation in a London coffee shop about Egyptian culture and mixed heritage, in Anna’s case Egyptian-Finn.

⤷ What’s next

Nicola wants to meet an artist who exhibits their creations in forests and other natural settings.  Get in touch.