Catalonian fractured beauty

Illness and sadness have a funny way of halting the lyrical muse.

Brexit is painfully negotiated and years of agreements initially inspired to cement European peace are squabbled over by some politicians in a way to shame even the most head strong.

Trump turns American politics into a heartbreaking farce that sees a man given power who wields it seemingly only to self aggrandise.

And so it is the turn of Catalonia to raise it's head and fight about what politics is really about, the freedom to democratically define our own futures.

I have never known what it is like to be a Catalan, but there is a strength of purpose always having given it a strong voice within Spain.

And so their leader in Exile looks to me a little bit like an older Democrat fighting for something bigger than themselves in a time when Brexit and Trump have made us knowing and disillusioned.

Catalonia seems to be saying in a mass of ballot boxes, a quieter and humbler yes we can be bigger than our times.

Yes, democracy does mean something.

They are at the turning point of something uncertain to us all.