words + friends

Last night I attended my first writing event held by Orémi + Good Egg Project here in Edinburgh, on the theme ‘hope’. I had so much fun; I loved talking about the poems as a group to find meaning, playing with prompts, the poets’ words, and the feelings they invoked within me. I hadn’t ever approached writing poetry in this way before, I normally allow words to flow as a cathartic practice, so I left feeling such a pull to allow my creativity to guide me playfully, making art, making life, and letting it flow through me without intention. Hope is here, and I have so much to do, so, I’ll begin by sharing the poems I created in response. 

The first poem impacted me the most, and this is my response to the hope I felt upon reading it. The second poem was an exploration and expansion in my own words, taking line by line, following the form and essence, holding my two favorite lines to the original form, which I have marked in italics. Poets’ names are linked, enjoy!

Humans are not born indifferent – an exploration of the poem by The Thinking Train

what gives me hope

to see grace so large when

death is placed in small hands

not little enough to misunderstand significance

so, to honour life with blossoms

and blades of truth

this, this is how we are born

you’re not lost, just forgotten

our natural inclination

a choice to remember

name it, and gather

to run against the grain like children

to not listen but

throw glitter to reignite the flame

which still burns within us, all

Welcome to hope – an exploration of the poem by Selena Godden

this is your map, here

it lives inside your beating heart

see here, the mountains of soft flesh

you, vivid life

swim in rivers of love letters

of thought, dream or grief

through deepest forests

which kiss the sky, so you can breathe in

the loudness of this earth

tend to gardens of your own making

soul as compass

allow kindness to carry you beyond borders

through cities of complexity and saturated colour

the winds of change pull and push you

allow their wildness to guide you

home is a feeling, not a place

place your roots here in the now

life pulses through your feet

welcome it

let the dawn sing you awake now, my love

hope is here

and we have so much to do.