CANDLESTICK PRESS (TEN POEMS ON KINDNESS)

Candlestick Press has produced several gorgeous poetry anthologies since 2008. Pamphlets designed to be gifted, carried around and cherished for years to come. For always-emerging writers like myself, their callouts are great opportunities to gain experience and build confidence. Although my entry wasn’t selected, I was pleased by how I worked with the constraints of the competition – no more than 16 lines of 10 words at most – while injecting a spritely rhythm along the way. It’s my hop, skip and jump of an appeal to the world. Pass it on…

You can buy the collection here.

DON’T TAKE MY KINDNESS FOR WEAKNESS (SHE SAID)

Or I’ll close up and turn away, all ruthless instead

Ever watched frowns become smiles, light piercing the shutter

Give thought to another, you’ll make their heart flutter

It matters, you know, doing something for nothing

What you can, when you can, forget who’s deserving

Make the tea or coffee, do someone a favour

Hold the door open, flatter a stranger … I dare ya

Offer a smile for no reason

Bring in the season of less getting even

It’s like living by giving till the giving is receiving

Start a chain reaction – ka-boom! – seeing is believing

Kindness is the currency that never loses its value

Can’t afford to spend it? You can’t afford not to!

This gift is best shared right out of the blue

See good in others? Now there’s good in you too

POCC X CLEAR CHANNEL (AGE) – AUGUST 2021

In 2021, I saw a callout on the Instagram page of POCC to submit a piece of art or writing on the theme of “age”. POCC is a brilliant platform and network amplifying the work of people of colour who are either part of the creative industries or hope to be.

They have already collaborated with outdoor media owner Clear Channel to place “artist-in-residence” work on digital billboards across the UK on topics including mental health and Pride (specifically drag queen and activist Marsha P Johnson).

I would never consider myself a poet, much less an artist, but I do try to be poetic in my turn of phrase. And why else would you be a writer if not to surprise and delight the reader? As the author Octavia Butler often reminded herself, “Make people think, feel and know. Make them feel, feel, feel.”

I am thrilled to say that my piece was accepted and went on display (fleetingly) across the UK.

A WORK IN PROGRESS

Don’t let the past cast shadows over your future
This rubble of regret jamming up your dream factory
Instead, pour all of that you have felt, learned, endured
Into a well

Let it give weightlessness to your weary bag of bones
Wash away the stubborn stains of nostalgia
Flush apathy and acrimony from your fallible form
Drown out the tick-tock of it’s-too-lateness

You are a vessel forever altering its aspect to the sun

Feel calm in knowing more from one day to the next
Time has gifted you hard-earned experience
Distilled you to your essence
Every imperfection a mark of distinction
Now listen out for the murmur of possibility

Get ready to chase your joy
Again and again…

You are not the person you used to be,
and that is how it should always be
You see

So on to your next
New beginning

**EXTENDED VERSION/DIRECTOR’S CUT**

A work in progress

Don’t let the past cast shadows over your future
Or let the rubble of regret jam up your dream factory
Instead, pour all of that you have felt, learned and endured
Into the well that waters your mind (and others’)
Gives weightlessness to your weary bag of bones
Guides a more graceful movement onward

Let it drown out the tick-tock of it’s-too-lateness
Wash away the stubborn stains of nostalgia
Flush apathy and acrimony from your fallible form
You are a vessel forever altering its aspect to the sun

Feel calm in knowing more from one day to the next
Time has gifted you hard-earned experience
It has distilled you to your essence, and with it  
The right to feel more comfortable in your own skin
Your imperfections adorn you like marks of distinction

The right to go at your own pace, opt out of the race
To live unapologetically, laughing in face of your demons
To dare to disappoint anyone but yourself
To direct the movie of your life, then star in the remake
This is your stature so carry it with conviction

But listen out for the murmur of possibility
Get ready to chase your joy
Be open to that inner voice that calls you
Beyond yourself … again and again

You are not the person you used to be,
and that is how it should always be, you see
So on to your next stage of becoming
On to your next new beginning

ABOUT THE PIECE 

As kids, we feel this excitement and anticipation about growing up. The future is unwritten. Anything is possible. Then we enter this new phase of “getting older” and things start to change. When exactly does that happen? Why? 

Too often, an adult’s attitude towards ageing is shaped more by fear and anxiety than the joy of wisdom or the benefit of experience. I wanted to write something that instils pride and gives hope to everyone. But as a 42-year-old, I am also speaking directly to anyone who feels time slipping away that little bit quicker.

Thanks to everyone at POCC and Clear Channel for the support.