Heathrow Airport Toilets
Heathrow Airport toilets are composers: their overture is largo: Their instruments are the echoing footstep, the muffled whoosh, The discrete cough. The crescendo is forever the bumbling choirs of hand dryers Like giant bees pinned to the walls; The allegro has a short ballet, a last look in the mirror; The trudge with a bag […]
HOW TO BREATHE
This poem was written during lockdown last year. I am lucky to have my local park, Hilly Fields, opposite my home in Brockley to escape in for my daily walk during this time. It occurred to me how the usual taken-for-granted local topography seemed strange when seen from the point of view of a tree.
I’m delighted the poem has just been selected for publication by Renard Press in the anthology, New Beginnings.
There is also a film of the poem under its original title, Misplaced, by the actor, Paul Horsfield on the Bottomley Writes Youtube Channel, where 50 creatives collaborated during lockdown to interpret 50 of my poems on film.
Moments
Moments of connection were so precious and effort was made with a simple smile in unexpected places and from people you didn’t expect the connection and feeling of we were all in this together was unique and quite special.
RHYTHM OF LIFE
Finger on the pulse, feels beat of life’s rhythm. Patience with time, is the value of love given. Permanent, physical roof over head, makes sleep sound and safe the bed. Hands planting seeds with hope for the growing. Open is the mind that longs for the knowing. If one could decipher hearts as music sheet […]
Spring Equinox 2020
This poem came about from the rushed experience of having to take supplies for my daughter but not knowing when we’d be able to see each other again.
She lives in supported accommodation in Kent and she normally comes home every fortnight
We had never been apart longer than three weeks and we ended up not seeing each other for four months.
Brent 2020: The Cultural Wave
In 2020, the Mayor of London awarded the London Borough of Brent as the borough of culture, it seems like a very distant memory witnessing the spectacular outdoor opening evening event RISE where the community came together to dance and share the stories of Brent’s rich and diverse heritage. Despite the lockdown, the team of volunteers, community advisors, educators and all involved from grassroots to cultural directors and producers kept the show on the road. But we also saw resilience from this Brent community that was highly affected by the pandemic, and I heard stories and saw many people coming together to help local people.
Misreading the blueprint
I was lucky enough not to have Covid, but was struck by its metaphorical parallel of being in a claustrophobic, obsessive relationship. I did a zoom workshop with Arji Manuelpillai, through the Corn Exchange, in which he had invited an Covid expert to explain the C19 blueprint. I was taken by how beautiful the blueprint illustration she showed us looked. It brought the Bluebeard story to mind. As someone who fits into the category of vulnerable, I would do the ‘two bridges walk’- crossing Chelsea and Albert bridges, which had imposed a one-way-crossing scheme, through Battersea Park and along embankment. I wrote and read a lot. Poetry kept me sane.
A year of Covid gone by
My memories as a front line health worker during the Covid pandemic.
words picked from the noise of a crowd
On Thursday 12th March 2020, Cat Empire played at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was to be my last gig before live events were dropped from social calendars en masse. There’s nothing quite like the sound of an excited crowd, and waiting for the show to start, certain words and phrases rose to the surface like driftwood at the bottom of a waterfall. Dictated only by my position in the crowd and the sounds my brain understood, these words are unedited and appear in the order in which they reached me. This poem was initially featured in Nokturno in December 2020.
Call on the Healers
Call on the Healers’ addresses life during the outbreak of Covid-19, exploring the effects of the global pandemic and quarantine. She combined the release of her poem with a visual presentation of a Covid-19 lockdown street photography series, which captures life on the streets of London, UK during the peak of the lockdown restrictions. This series was photographed during the time when individuals or members of the same household were allowed to leave the house for one form of exercise per day, for example: a walk or run, for a maximum of one hour and essential shopping only.
PANDEMIC TIMES – 2020
We still laugh, we still cry we still live, we still die. We still feel life has changed we still need this virus to fail. We want life to be normal we want Governments to listen. We want Experts’ advise not to be treated with derision. We want people to try and wear their masks […]
LOCK DOWN – WEEK FOUR
Lockdown – not so bad, finding That ‘Time’ is not important As living in the moment Brings greater enjoyment. Families and friends united, Daily conversations a revival. Sharing love, we see how Happy we can be. Chores, placed on the back burner Now tackled with enthusiasm and vigor. Hobbies re-visited painting, baking, gardening, Sewing making […]