Community Poems

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