Guest editor Degna Stone chose this poem saying "I like the way the changes that occur to the speaker in this poem are caused by the landscape and by a reaction to or against the generation that came before." Kathryn herself says "the poem is about how identity can be shaped by our background and where … Continue reading Yorkshire by Kathryn Metcalfe
Tag: change
Drawing out the stories
As we head towards our winter break, I'd like to thank everyone who came out to our second workshop, including a few new faces - so wonderful to have a roomful of people making memory maps! I first used memory mapping as a writing prompt at a workshop run by the fabulous Wolf At The … Continue reading Drawing out the stories
Guest editor alert!!
Hello folks, please join me in welcoming the first of three guest editors for this blog! Jessie Joe Jacobs is an amazing women - activist, campaigner, charity leader, writer and passionate Teessider! Please visit her website to find out more about the amazing things she's been involved with, including founding A Way Out charity, and … Continue reading Guest editor alert!!
Moving On by Fran Edwards
I need a change of scenery he said, looking through me at something more appealing and desirable. I changed the sheets but the bed still smelt of him. Three months later he changed his mind he said he'd had a change of heart. So had I, and I'd changed the locks. Thanks … Continue reading Moving On by Fran Edwards
Chantress by Susie McComb
Chantress Snaking briar Kiss the ground Make a root Where you’re found Snick and snag Kitten claws Do your worst Little thorns Overgrow Overthrow Nature’s way Hammer home He is gone He who strimmed Beat you back Lopped your limbs Dragged you forth Burnt your dead Boiled your young Smeared his … Continue reading Chantress by Susie McComb
Nationality by Valerie Pate
Nationality The TV presenters are shouting. Every line they deliver is accentuated by dramatic pauses and rising crescendos. I scan the jammed airport terminal, attempting to spy a man under forty not clad in a cap. The voices are too loud; jarring. I have returned once more to the U. S. of A. “Welcome … Continue reading Nationality by Valerie Pate
Change At Basingstoke by Peter Fereday
Change at Basingstoke Last week I went to Wokingham I travelled on the train They told me “Change at Basingstoke” I murmured “What a pain!” So when we got to Basingstoke I went into the loo And changed into a leopard Who’d escaped from London Zoo. I leapt across the platform In a rather … Continue reading Change At Basingstoke by Peter Fereday
One-shot filmpoem
Here's how to use an iPad to make an extremely simple one-shot filmpoem or digital story. First - write a poem! Ok, it needn't be too long or too complicated. At our taster session I asked people to tell me a story about their life, or The Story Of Their Life, in just six words. … Continue reading One-shot filmpoem
Fear of Drowning by Gail Curry
Fear of drowning I used to visit the sea drawn to it to sit for hours watching the waves drag the shingle from the shore snatched into the icy waters against its will. I used to feel like shingle a small piece of stone insignificant at the mercy of the sea, waiting to drown. I … Continue reading Fear of Drowning by Gail Curry
Fairy Rings by Hannah Chutzpah
Fairy Rings Gentrification is a game We have to play But cannot win. We move in mushroom fairy rings: The unsafe neighbourhood becomes The OK neighbourhood becomes The cool neighbourhood becomes Unaffordable. We spores settle where we can Move when we’re starved out. We know we change each place But we cannot change … Continue reading Fairy Rings by Hannah Chutzpah
Bank by Rob Walton
Write poems on the tins you put in the foodbank Write verse about how foodbank even became a word Write about alternatives to foodbanks Write long lines about love conquering all Write about love not necessarily being a short-term solution for the starving Write that then again maybe love is the answer Write about protest … Continue reading Bank by Rob Walton
Testing Time by Helen Anderson
Testing Time Blue lines equally strong Don’t think about yesterday’s power lunch raising objections all through interminable … Continue reading Testing Time by Helen Anderson
Celebrating Change 