‘Identity: All of Me’

THIRD COLLECTION OF POETRY FOR CHANGE

For the third time Poets’ Corner will be publishing a collection of poetry for change. This month, the theme ‘Identity: All of Me’ will explore how identity is more than just one label, one story, one characteristic. Throughout the month of July 2016, poetic work from poets of all styles, levels, ages and backgrounds will be published.

We live in times where a constant stream of information can ask us to quickly judge information, situations or sometimes people. Does this mean we perceive someone’s identity mainly based on their most visible or apparent characteristics?

We invite readers to consider, question and rethink what identity means through a collection of wonderful and personal poems. On behalf of the Leaveners/Poets’ Corner team, we would like to thank all poets who contributed to this thought-provoking archive with their beautiful poetry.

Kuli Kohli
Guest Poetry Curator

Jorine Beck
Programme Leader

(Photo by Brandon Couch)

Patterns

My leopard-print pyjama trousers,
embroidered roses on my untied boots;
the mad flung mess of my hair, red ebbed out
and seeped into vein-torn eyeballs.
Tight stitching on the nurse’s shirt,
the meandering coil of wires and tubes
meeting and feeding yellow flesh,
goosebumps as my veins gulp the fluid.
Each black mark on the clock as another minute passes.

Numbers that flash and beep and go in boxes hourly,
numbers that mean I’m getting better or worse,
or staying the same like the square ceiling tiles
counted over and over; white in the day,
burnt orange at night from the foyer where
the lights are still on, like a school residential
where we all need reminding there are
no monsters. None under the beds, just
in our cells, in ourselves.

Tortoiseshell hands when the temperature drops,
my tattoos clinging to bone.
Blue ovals on the privacy curtains that
the old lady opposite says ‘look rude’
before she gets too yellow to stay and is
wheeled along the speckled floor tiles to
another ward. Those white spots
on the grainy ultrasound – those white spots
that make my blood tests spike, make me a statistic.

Cherry Doyle, poet of the month, June 2016.

Image and utterance

Occasionally we ask an experienced poet to share some words of wisdom, advice or inspiration with you. We found poet Bob Ward keen to give us some insight into his use of photography and poetry combined.

Image and utterance – by Bob Ward

‘In both Western and Eastern cultures there is a long tradition of relating text and image on a page. With the advent of digital photography it opened up new ways of exploring the possibilities. For me it allowed for a fusion of two major interests: taking photographs and writing poetry.’

© Bob Ward

‘A frequent remark is that a picture is worth a thousand words. But life isn’t always that simple. I enjoy the trade-off between the two media. While I was thrilled to confront a sea lion in Vancouver aquarium I was aware that it was in captivity and I needed to record that feeling too.’ (CLICK to see photo and poem )

© Bob Ward

‘I am often asked “What comes first, the photo or the poem?” In practice it can work either way, one leading to the other. However, just as a text may have gone through many stages of revision, finding the best photo to complement it can become a minor project in itself. For example, choosing the gravestones in ‘A Glance at the Back’ where the poem appears as a quasi-inscription. In that case the text is added as an overlay to the photo, but elsewhere it seemed better to situate it in a box.’

© Bob Ward

There is potential to endless variations but one’s aim should be to produce a coherent design that does not obtrude the meaning of the piece.

Bob Ward

Bob Ward is a poet and photographer, specialised in the two mediums and is currently a member of the Quaker Arts Network. In 2008 Bob was invited to mount an exhibition at the Wells-next-the-Sea Poetry Festival in Norfolk, after which he was awarded an Associate Membership by the Royal Photographic Society in 2009. Bob published ‘Trusting at Last – a Volume of Bob Ward’s poetry’ in 2011 and contributed to Poets’ Corner’s collection on ‘Displacement: Stories of Hope and Humanity’ in 2015. 

Find more of Bob’s work here: http://www.bobward.org.uk/ 

Are there any other poets who work with photography?

On Mrs Ferdinand’s Watch

Mrs Ferdinand makes a bee-line across the playground
and prods the lip of the grass with one sternly-shod foot.
We turn in her wake; wait with bated breath
for her hand to rise and that whistle to taunt the hairs
on our necks.

After months confined to hopscotch, the playground
pressing its pocked and crumbled imprints into our knees,
it is the green light for spring – the season of grass-stains,
of lunchtimes that linger like a note trembling
on a cello’s string.

Mrs Ferdinand prowls the inner reaches of the field
with her army of tabards and pencilled lips,
but those hot weeks are spent at the fences, where
damsons swallow the sun, and goose-grass grows ripe
for each other’s backs.

The insides of our eyelids are flooded with orange petals,
by sun that seems to crawl among the grass, where
beetles shimmer like shards of glass, and our freed legs –
incandescent and lunar – become toasted while
we’re not looking.

Cherry Doyle
Poet of the Month June 2016

Days Like These

On days like these
I watch tiny suns expire
at the end of a match

like the days
we dipped our toes
in golden summer

among the bounty
of daisies and
fresh kisses.

Evenings thickened,
breath became opaque
but now

with your leg
against mine in the
smoke-creased night,

I spread my fingers
against the three studs
of Orion’s belt.

On days like these,
the whole universe fits
between my palms.

Cherry Doyle
Poet of the Month June 2016

Open Call Poetry Submissions: Identity

Identity: All of Me

We welcome poetic submissions for the month of July 2016 on the theme ‘Identity: All of Me’. During the month of July we will be publishing poems that explore how identity is more than just one label, one story, one characteristic.

We live in times where a constant stream of information can ask us to quickly judge information, situations or sometimes people. Does this mean we perceive someone’s identity mainly based on their most visible or apparent characteristics?

We ask all poets and writers to submit poetry that invites readers to consider, question and rethink what identity means. We are looking for poems with a personal touch, exploring different angles, layers and ideas on identity.

You can submit one poem to Guest Poetry Curator Kuli Kohli: kuli.kohli@hotmail.co.uk
Please include your email address and phone number, and a short poetry statement (max. 65 words). The deadline for submissions is the 1st of July 2016.

(Photo by Brandon Couch)

Housman & Me

Splayed like winter twigs –
my mother’s calligraphics
were tacked onto the wall.

I repeated the lines like ghosts
replaying a moment –
chewed on the words.

While the kids at school
had badges, hairbands, pencil cases,
emblazoned with their names.

A slither in a book,
found one lifeless afternoon –
its letters, stars in my eyes.

To think!
That I was the ‘loveliest of trees’,
charming in my Easter bloom.

‘To see the cherry hung with snow’,
reminded me of how I was named –
for all seasons of life.

Blossom in my brain,
my mother sat and scribed the verse
for my bedroom wall.

Housman’s cherry tree,
‘About the woodland’ and on the page,
captivated him and me.

Cherry Doyle
Poet of the Month June 2016

Published in The Poetry of Shropshire, Offa’s Press, 2013

Extract from Housman’s poem in Cherry’s bedroom as a child.

Poet June 2016: Cherry Doyle

Poets’ Corner is pleased to introduce Cherry Doyle as the Poet of the Month June 2016.

During the month of June poet Cherry Doyle will share a collection of her work poems on Poets’ Corner, in which she explores a wide range of experiences from her personal life. Cherry writes: ‘I find poetry is an excellent tool for unlocking those experiences throughout my life that I want to celebrate, mourn or understand in more detail. It is like finding yourself in a jungle and having the route mapped out in words.’

Cherry’s work is directly inspired by her surroundings and the questions she asks herself about the world around her. Cherry explains: ‘I was born in Shrewsbury in the 1980s and had an active and stimulating childhood of holidays and days out among nature and culture, which allowed me to learn about the environments, I spent a lot of time in. As I’ve grown older, I’ve always taken that approach to my surroundings – noticing the detail and asking ‘why is it that way?’ Sadly, life takes its toll, and sometimes when you ask those questions, you get painful answers.’

‘I rediscovered writing in my early twenties, and gravitated towards poetry because of its innate attractiveness. I love to make a poem visually stimulating, with lots of imagery for the reader to feast on. I get a lot of support through my writing group, Blakenhall Writers in Wolverhampton, and various poets and mentors I’ve met through my association with them. They’ve given me the confidence to use my own voice in my journey of self-discovery.’

Poet Kuli Kohli will mentor Cherry and curate her poetry throughout the month. Kuli is pleased to be sharing her skills and knowledge with a poet who is in the same situation she was in herself, being the first aspiring poet to be curated on the platform in May 2015. Kuli is impressed by Cherry’s writing, and thinks many people should enjoy reading Cherry’s work.

Please share your feedback with Cherry throughout the month.

Black Country Tales – Poetry Reading

In celebration of the ‘Black Country Tales’ exhibition, which is open to the public at Dudley Museum and Art Gallery from the 19^th of March until late June 2016, poet Elinor Cole read some of her work on the 28th of May at Dudley Library.

A good crowd came along to listen to Elinor’s work and think about the role of dialect in history and identity. After the reading they joined Elinor to view the collection of poems and etchings at the museum.

All photographs by Jonathan Kelway ©2016

Guest Poetry Curator June-July 2016: Kuli Kohli

We are sure you have heard about Kuli Kohli by now; the first ever Poet of the Month at Poets’ Corner, back in May 2015. Kuli’s development to become an established poet has been in a lift over the last year, and she has now decided to share her skills and knowledge with aspiring poets as a Guest Poetry Curator.

Kuli writes: ‘I was curated by Rachel Arnold and was the first poet of the month in May 2015 on Leaveners Poet’s Corner. As the first poet, I really didn’t know what to expect. Poet’s Corner gave me an opportunity to platform my best poems that were showcased to a wider audience online.  I enjoyed the experience and the project as a whole because it gave aspiring poets the chance and confidence to share their work.

After being showcased in May 2015, I have a thriving network of supporters who enjoy reading, writing and listening to poetry. As a result, I have sold many copies of my poetry pamphlet “Rag Doll”; all types of audiences are accepting my work. During 2015 I worked on co-editing a poetry and prose anthology on the theme of identity for Blakenhall Writers Group in Wolverhampton funded by ACE. I have had work performed at live gigs and am a regular blogger for Disability Arts Online.  I have been interviewed live at a gig and some interviews have been published on line. Recently I performed my own work at a live gig, which is a great achievement for me.

I feel that I am now in a position to help an aspiring poet to platform and support their work. I believe it is important for me to give something back and help writers/poets get work out there and knock down barriers because not all poets/writers have the time to put their work to different audiences. This experience will be of great satisfaction in knowing I will be helping someone who’s in the same situation I was in.’

You can read more about Kuli’s work and poetry here, or enjoy her recent poetry reading of ‘Resilience’:

We are thrilled to have Kuli back and are excited to see how she will shape her curatorship during the upcoming two months.