Healing Words Newport
From August to November 2013 Literature Wales worked in partnership working in partnership with Gwent Arts in Health and Newport Library Services, to commission literature projects in Newport following the successful ‘Healing Words’ project in Blaenau Gwent in 2009.
The aims of the project were to run creative participatory poetry workshops and related arts activities that facilitated shared writing, with adults and young people accessing Mental Health Services from the communities of Newport.
Project activities involved writers and artists, working with groups in local libraries and other locations.. A visual artist was attached to the project and worked alongside the writer with the selected groups to produce visual imagery that reflects their work. Related activities were also participatory, drawing on and enabling creative expression in a range of artistic media by the individuals involved in the project.
The outcomes of the project will be a series of poster poems, that will form local exhibitions in libraries, Newport healthcare settings and any other appropriate local venues.
The project enjoyed two celebratory events in October 2013, one on National Poetry Day (Thursday 3 October 2013) in the Royal Gwent, another as part of events around World Mental Health Day on October 10th, which the Library Service will be promoting as part of their ‘Get Libraries’ campaign. One of the Newport Library Service’s aims is to improve the physical and mental health and well-being of residents through opportunities to engage in learning and social activities and preventing ill-health. An event for all participants, poets and artists took place on Wednesday 9th October as part of the Newport Comedy Festival.
The Baby
It’s crying time again
The hope for a new future
Three becoming four
Another knock at the door
Changing the nappy
To keep her happy
Other people’s children go back
But not this one
This one needs the confidence to learn to fly
So she will try
To leave the nest
And do her best
With red gums and 100 decibel screams
The nightmares in your dreams
Sleep a thing of the past
Make the one blink last
A smile that’s priceless
But you can’t cash it in
First few years they begin
Learning to walk and talk
Then the teacher’s shouts and chalk
Telling them to sit down
And what name do you choose?
Elvis for the Blues?
Then the news that it’s female
Tells a different tale
Lullabies and nursery rhymes
And those agonising times
When you step on toys
And the constant noise!
So we wish you luck for the next few years
And more smiles than tears…….
When I Leave Here
When I leave here
I don’t know where I’m going
But I’ll get there in the end
When I leave here
I want good news
The hope that I’m going somewhere else
Maybe home to cook
Or I’d like to walk barefoot through a stream
Walking and walking to be free
And those views I will see
When I leave here
I want to enjoy a strong cup of coffee
And hold someone’s hand
When I leave here
I don’t know what will happen
I’ll feed the imaginary dog or cat
Catch the mole in my lawn
And listen to perfect mood music
Finding the rhythm that’s in my feet
I’ll watch the belly
And tickle my tele
When I leave here
I want to leave something behind
Put on a cheery tee shirt
And watch Mexican wrestlers
I want to write the perfect poem
And, above all,
I want to be remembered
My Thoughts
In my thoughts are a family of panda’s
There’s starving people waiting for lunch
And the whole of London Zoo.
There’s Goldilocks the villain of the story,
Pinocchio and the oncoming football season.
In my thoughts is Milton Keynes
With the ups and downs of school
There’s a chick out of its nest
And a Frenchwoman wandering in a forest.
A snake is always falling
With a question of who put the Mc in Mcdonalds
There’s a poet
Who does know it
But won’t show it
There is life as a river
Flowing to the sea
And all who travel on her
Are vessels in the breeze
There’s an emptiness.
It’s great to have thoughts
And escape from reality
Thumbs Up For Becky
Becky sorry about your thumb
We heard it went numb
We hope it’s getting better
And this is our letter
You’re having no fun
And probably can’t run
To collect a sum (from National Accident Helpline)
Maybe a tot of rum
Will ease the pain
Don’t break it again
Cos we want you back
You won’t have the sack
Just a poem from us
So hop on the bus
And come back to number 47
For our lunchtime heaven!
Summertime
Summertime…those lazy, crazy days
When you know the wasps will bother you
And follow you forever round beer gardens
A time of ice creams and 99’s with chocolate flakes off the van
Waiting for the tune of Mr Whippy, Mr Creemy or Mr Summer Delight
Summertime
Those holidays and mosquitoes
In the car with the windows up
And the rain teeming down
To put the washing out or not to put it out
That is the question
Waiting three hours for a plane
Waiting six weeks with the kids
Lost luggage and lost youth
With the fragrance of fresh flowers
Summertime
The Dawn Chorus
And the odd kitten or nine
Long days and long nights
Falling asleep when it’s still light
Shedding clothes and shredding salad
Shorts and sandals
Lettuce upon lettuce
Sunbathing and sunburn
Peeling skin and calamine
Seeking shade and aftersun
Skinny dipping and summer showers
Not waving but drowning
To the sounds of cricket willow
Summertime
It comes, it goes
Like the rest of us
Hafal
There’s the laughter and friendship
The name that means equal as we are
What’s in a name maybe it should be an Egyptian Princess
Maybe it is
There’s strength and vulnerability
Famous faces on walls
The ones who’ve been there and done it all
But still need support like the rest of us
It’s good to be in groups
With baked potatoes and cheese
And some change please
Makes me weak at the knees
We wanted to keep the pool table
They said we weren’t able
Now there’s no more cue
Where it is we’ve no clue
But there’s women knitting blankets
For a baby
And maybe
A bit of pampering with biscuits or nails
The Women’s Group never fails
I love coming to Hafal
Lots of cake to snaffle
Plus the biscuit tub
Aye there’s the rub
Getting together for a meal
It makes us feel
Positive and taking our time
Out of the house to relax
No more St Cadoc’s
There’s the day trips
The poetry, the art
So many activities
With staff on hand
The mutual support
Hafal’s not boring
No time for snoring
Never yawning
This is our morning
And remember
The cup is always half full!
The Search For Happiness
It’s doing what you want to do
It’s winning the Pools
Or taking up lion taming and surviving
I don’t like caving
You go there if you’re misbehaving
It’s getting your dole money on your Post Office card
It’s filling up three skips
And doing things with someone else
It’s that time with no stress in your day
And nothing goes wrong
Something new to do
Somewhere new to go
It’s a good film
Or a smile in your direction
Last time I was happy
I was in a nappy
Pushed in a pram
With sandwiches of jam
Now it’s smoking marijuana
And a bit of how’s your father
But too much grass
And you could fall on your…..and end up with arthritis
Brief Thoughts On Early Mornings
In the early mornings
I sometimes think about two little lovebirds
Or about food and drink
I question whether I’ve taken my medication or not
In the mornings
I think about riding my mountain bike
And about inner tubes that will never puncture
I wonder how the day will turn out
Sometimes I try and recall my dreams
In the mornings
I think about whether my nephew will behave himself
I think about my children and moving house
And why are those dogs still barking
I think about all the things I have to do
All the things I want to get done
Sometimes in the mornings
I wonder if people believe in God
I try to keep stress at bay
And let the radio play
In the mornings
I do a lot of thinking
And then ease myself into the day….
Brief Thoughts On Newport
Welcome to Newport
Come on down and see
Tramps and people begging for money
See the neglected Newport Castle
The tiny remains that were once a proud brewery
And is now just a stumpy bit
It’s not Caerphilly or Caernarvon this is Newport
Come on down and see
The Red Wave, the Maritime Sculpture,
The Riverfront, the Leisure Centre
The empty shops and charity shops
The demise of the City Centre
A reminder of prosperity gone south and west and east
It’s out of town shopping that thrives
It’s liquidation or the promise of life to come
Welcome to Newport
Come on down and see
Where people swam off the transporter bridge
Now it’s just abseiling in the wind for charity
There’s Tredegar House and Park
There’s history sunk by reconstructed boats
Space age station alongside the old
Two era’s as uncomfortable neighbours
And hanging baskets as little gardens of hope
Welcome to Newport
Come on down and see
The chewing gum and cigarette butts carpet the floor
And more funny characters, cliquey characters in cultural isolation
Not always a ‘Hello’
There’s ignorance and confusion
Is Newport really Welsh?
Is it really a City?
Welcome to Newport
Come on down and see
The artist’s projections for the future
They keep on promising
But it will probably stay the same
Does anything really change?
Childhood Memories
Childhood the best days of your life
Bottles of milk in the infants sometimes warm in the sun
Conkers and marbles
Pressing the bell on the bus
Pretending it’s your stop
Parents struggling for money for day trips
Family outings in the countryside
Deckchairs in a field with a flask of tea
Barry Island, the beach, the Fair
Once even Blackpool
It was like Las Vegas with candyfloss
Steam trains and scrapped old engines
Donkey rides and falling off
Childhood the best days of your life
Playing rounders waiting for your turn to bat
Some days too tough to remember
Coming home from school and TV till tea
Excited by school trips and outings
Bullies and beatings
Burglaries and bracelets
Childhood the best days of your life
Then the summer holidays and out all day
Not wanted back till night time
And at home pocket money used to feed the meter
When black and white became colour
Turning knobs at the back of the set
Jumping off the walls at Dense Hill
Dens and parks, places to hide like Tarzan and Jane
The good old days of younger times
Childhood the best days of your life
Tadpoles in nets, catfish and newts
Marvel comics and pop delivered on Fridays
Going with dad to work
Plastic prams and teasets
Christmas searching the house for your presents
Opening selection boxes, eating chocolates
Then sealing them back up under the tree
Peas in the allotments, multicoloured pens leak into school uniforms
Using tights as stockings with tangerines, apple, orange and sweets
And chocolate, always chocolate
Dragged round to relatives you didn’t usually see
Aunts and uncles you never really knew
Creeping out of the woodwork
And telling you what to do
Childhood the best days of your life
I’ll let you decide
