Dwell Time ran a workshop at Creative Recovery Barnsley last night reading and discussing:
Philip Larkin’s This Be the Verse
Siegfried Sasson’s The General
and Hollie McNish’s On the Train with a Toddler
And these are the following poems created:
Lark Vs McNish by Janet
Muck better than #@%& swearing
as you’re airing
words that when ‘earing
can cause bewaring
as everyone starts staring,
moving and despairing,
lest they’re caught mouthing,
mouth something they naught want to be heard.
Brat, full of chit chat
Snotty, spotty
Smearing in face
A face that should’ve been seen not heard
Painting the right way up
Head at the top
Feet on the floor
Then when it moves with cream air
The palpable air of fear – see feel #@%&
When asked to lick the ‘ice-cream air’
Mr Larkin seems to be in a mood
His language of an age
Suitable for who, when, where,
Is he any worse than those in the prose?
No speech
Just freaks
Full of oh’s and ah’s
No sound
Abhorrent reaction on the train
Confusion – them not her
But she don’t care
She know who, what and where.
She has her mum, her chum, to back her up.
Fog by Rhiannon Rees
Fog creeps into the bones
Rain swamps the soul
Lost and don’t know which way to go.
To be heard – oh to be heard
Above the rain and through the thick fog.
Depression by Joy Bishop
Depressed
Anxious
Feeling alone, helpless, frustrated, anger, mixed emotions,
up and down like a roller coaster
Round and round
Emptiness
No energy. So hard to get up.
Not liking the skin I’m in.
Afraid to go home, open that door and it all comes rushing back.
Afraid of the dark, you can feel it coming
The night, the nightmares
And afraid of the unknown.
Indecisiveness.
Like banging your head on a brick wall.
Staring
Thinking
Worrying about what’s been and what’s to come
Confusion
Do I? Don’t I?
Feeling alone, afraid of being alone
with my thoughts and feelings
Just want to be free, free from me
Happy and at peace
I found a faith
But sometimes I forget I’m in his hands.
Untitled by Lee F Halstead
Feel like I won’t have a voice
Nobody listens, can’t get my point over,
WORSE!!!
People: “MENTAL HEALTH?!!”
Lost faith in them
I suffer with depression, bipolar and anxiety, very often
and get very angry and frustrated
My coping strategies are:
Music, singing and self-meditation to chant music.
Seem to listen to lots of music
Can’t do with politics.
Love the sun – lifts my spirits
Puts a stride in my step
Boosts my confidence and mood
Love singing all types and upbeat and emotional songs
My conduct born
Place I like to be.
Inside My Head by Joan
My head can be full
Thoughts I want to chase away
Go away, please don’t stay
Swirling, curling, trying to take over.
Where is my off switch please?
It is in me
Change my thinking.
I will stop sinking.
Day by Day by Phil Watson and Ben Whewall
Feeling The Drain of Everyday
Day by Day
Just in the way.
A way of hope, way of aspiration
Aspiring for a bit of inspiration.
This isn’t the way
The way it should be.
I used to be happy
One day you see
Coping with stress, the stress of life
All in all it’s such a strife
When seeking help, falls on deaf ears
All I can do is reduce to tears
This isn’t the way
The way it should be
I used to be happy
One day you see
All in all, it’s just too much
Life in general is hard as such
Life’s not fair, he once did say
Just don’t let it get in your way.
The Way it Should Be by Phil Watson & Ben Whewall
This isn’t the way
The way it should be
I used to be happy
One day you see
But all’s not lost, in this weary day
As I have dear friends that are here to stay
They might not change the drain of each day
Bit hope and strength they send my way.
Butts by Anonymous
Where ends meet in perfect separation
with no shape but their own
a new definition ceases to be
When distinction has no meaning
and nothing is different
what else could ever be?
You look left and right
halted by decisions
there is nowhere to go
but with no where to go
now you can understand
where you could be
