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Together we can ...

Write a Poem or Two 

Hope Radio are proud to announce the completion of not one but TWO community poems.
We asked you to send in one or more lines that could be woven together to create a tapestry of voices and a work of true diversity and collaboration.


Open Call for Community Poem


What we received back via email text message postcard Facebook messenger was truly inspiring if a little overwhelming.
Such was the volume of words received that 2 poems were created .
Poets from as far a field as Australia and as close to home as Birmingham's own Poet Laureate contributed their words and their voices to the project.
Ian Henery Hopes longest serving poet in residence undertook the enormous task of stitching your words together, then Peni Whelan undertook the task of stitching all the voices together.
Therefore it is with great pleasure that we bring you the fruits of our collaborative labour and a big thank you for taking part


If this has whetted your appetite for more, or you missed out on contributing to the first 2 Community Poems fear not, as for our next trick we would like your help in creating a new Track Group of Poetry to be played during the overnight playlist.
The working title is - A reassuring voice in the dark.
The poetry is to address the needs of insomniacs , which as we know is an issue for many of us over 50 and to support the mental health of our nightime workforce listeners.
If you would like to contribute please send your words and audio recordings to
brumcommunitymedia@gmail.com
If you need help to record your words please contact us on 0121 792 1107 and full training will be given.
If you would prefer to have your poem read by another member of Team Hope please this state in your email.

Poem 1

 Multi-Colour Ribbon of Music & Chat

 

 

Fear
Breeding panic
That leads to dependency
Where false leaders thrive.
The crunching sounds
Of nameless stones,
Thoughts spun like ballerinas
Bending into the winds of change
And her mouth
Was filled with silence.
The walkers
Choose their own pathways,
Patterns of intention
In diversity.
Bacterium delirium seeps
Through the empty corners of my smile.
Convex surface between
Bleeds golden with dreaming,
Skin stretched taut
Merely touches the healing:
Hope - all is well.
If I knew then,
What I know now,
My whispered wishes
Would have been more
Than childish whims
If I knew you existed
Years before. 
To have hope
Is to have belief,
We can make a difference;
To have hope
Is to have belief;
We can have deliverance,
Have self-belief and love.
The hour is right
To bring hope back,
There is elegance and power.
Perched precariously
On our hopeful bikes
Creating words of enchantment
In adversity.
A multi-colour ribbon
Of music and chat
For us to educate people
That in diversity
Weaves community together,
Celebrating on Hope Radio
In every step.
To hope
Is only to abandon fear.
Blessed sunshine
Pales to cool moonlight.
Our path revealed
To sacred insight,
Hearts filled with love.
Restricted love
Is not love at all.
When you start .to put your focus
On the good things that exists
In your life
No matter how small they are
You can change your life.
Yet
Under the wings of love
We can fly,
Living in the moment.
Calm morning light
Fills the room with hope
In diversity.
Hope
A diverse rope
That ties down consternation.
Life`s hard, lonely without love:
We need to care
For each other,
That`s what community`s about.
Read it
Hear it, feel it, taste it
But don`t sniff it!
Make time for the one
You love.
Let us be one
Instead of many.

 

 Poem 2

A Community tunes in together each day 

 

 

Hope is a river running underground,
A faint pulse under tarmac.
We are the ones who, sometimes,
Lose the trail.  It remembers, though,
Or you might get that feeling
From the sparkle when
The water lifts to greet us.
Hope burns through misery of doubt
And uncertainty
Like the early morning sun
Dispels the hanging mist that blankets
Our world.
Dark veins against a bullfinch orange sky,
Caring hands, spotted with age.
Naught but blue sky,
A hot one on the way
Weathering a virulent storm
Dappled light danced.
The wind of change is in the air,
Freeing the spirits trapped
In history`s past stare.
Listen for the gentle voice,
Look to the guiding hand
That reaches out in friendship
All across this land.
Opened minds reimagine the future,
One line does not a poem make:
Angels circle and sing in rejoice.
We speak our minds
To remove the pain;
We lay foundations
Of disdain.
Even if we don`t forget
Hopefully we can move on
New foundations without regret.
Hope wakes,
Yawns, stretches its arms
Wide enough to wrap its arms
Around us all.
You feed the blackbirds
With mealworms,
Yourself with hope.
Hope sleeps huddled on an unmade bed
In a corridor somewhere between shifts.
Night and day merge into one.
Eyes shut tight
Against dreams of hospital corners
I walk forwards with love,
Joy and happiness.
A rainbow sea
Of umbrellas, united
The community shields its own
With mighty hope
Against the onslaught of rain.
Spectrum colours united,
Together in love.
Hope is seeing the light
When surrounded by darkness;
The clouds caressing the sky
Hold a thousand stories.
A stone`s throw, rippling away,
The see-saw of emotions
Needs to find a balancing point.
Embracing silence to stop the screaming
Walk with me
And take me to the view
That calms my heart
And feeds my soul -
But only he who sees
Takes off his shoes.
Dancing free
My cape lights up the skies
Like butterflies,
Colourful swirls parading
In the moonlight.
Got to get it right,
Need to set it right.
Beautifully
A community tunes in together each day
On reception of affection
Broadcast across the airwaves.
Ideas become more powerful
When actioned  together
Hope - the last thing Pandora had.
I hope and pray for those that lead
To help the ones in drastic need.
A community
Is a place for you and me.
This is your place now,
They key only opens the door it was meant for,
Not the one its owner desired.
There is no sense of rush
Is there?
There is time to think,
Be present in the stillness.
Home-schooling was never on the agenda;
What life lessons
Can be learnt?
The young onion is a curious thing
As it`s only when you eat it
That you know
The tears
It will bring.
I think my husband
Is a Vampire!
I`m dying to go to the pub!
Ah - and there is the rub.
I wish you a beautiful day,
It`s the weekend and time to play.
Hope burns a torch in my heart
Bleeds purple
Then a rainbow.

 

 

List of contributors and producers

Ian Henery

Rajbinder Kaur
Phil Buckley
John Carpenter
Nina Lewis
Ellis Unchained
Kezzabelle Ambler
Angie Angel
Maurice Malcolm
Lisa Johnston
Andy Summers
Daniel Kay
Anthony J Ball
Yvonne Ugarte
Julia Dean-Richards
Surjit Dhami
Debbie Aldous
Niven Smith
Rachel Charlotte Green
Elizabeth Stoney
Andrea Bradley
Gerald Kells
Angie James
Leanne Cooper
Rajbinder ("Rebecca") Johal
Richard O`Brien (Birmingham Poet Laureate)
Lourdes Marianne Burgess
Robert Deeley
Manjit Sahota
Linda Harper-Hucknell
Jae Lex Linsey
Nigel Moffatt
Mark Roberts
David Moore
Eileen Ward Birch
Mel Wardle Woodend (Staffordshire Poet Laureate)
Angela Garratt
Christina Rudd
Alan Kurly McGeachie
Antony Nick Britt
Tracey Hammerton
Alison Reed
Greg Stokes
Jonathan Watkiss
Julia Robinson
KianisMe
Brendan Hawthorne (Wednesbury Poet Laureate)
Maria Billingham
Al Barz
Ian Davies
Lettie Wilson
Grace Dore
LM Cooke
Su Parker Hallcroft
Tonia Daley-Campbell
Angela Barlow
Steve Pottinger
Vicki MacWinyers
Nicholas Barlow
Lucy Heuschen

 

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Upcoming events

The Midnight Overnight

Saturday 19 September 2020

A mix of jazz classical trance chill out you get the idea, a gentle sound track to see you through the small hours with Hope  

8 am - The Slow Stretch

Saturday 19 September 2020

I stretch my head when I get out of bed 

I Stretch my fingers and toes

I stretch my arms

I stretch my legs 

and then i stretch my nose 

by Smudge

Join Peni Whelan every morning...

More events »

Contact Information

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DRUIDS HEATH
Birmingham
B14 5NJ

BRUMCOMMUNITYMEDIA@GMAIL.COM

0121 792 1107