Lullaby written by Keith Chandler Illustrated by Afifa Razzaq
Workers written by Sharon Ashton Illustrated by Niki Holmes
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Lullaby written by Keith Chandler Illustrated by Afifa Razzaq
Illustrated Poems
Paul Francis has brought the poems written by Shropshire based poets for Refugee Week 2019 together in an anthology of this work, illustrated by local Artist which is due for publication later this year.
Here are a few of the images from the book together with the texts that inspired them.
Lullaby
by Keith Chandler
illustrated by Afifa Razzaq
Sleep well little bro
in your rucked up red t-shirt,
blue shorts too big,
head to one side, mouth slightly open,
arms straight down by your sides.
No father’s hand ruffles your hair
with periodic affection
but final pushes of water,
waves crying themselves dry
on a dirty Turkish beach.
No use murmuring to you
of a make-believe world
where grown-ups have learned
not to fight. Dream on.
Dream on of a faraway land
where those who are safe and warm
watching pictures on TV
try to be kind, to share
what they can. Something
appears to make you smile
as, turning you over with his boot,
a tall policeman
carries you ashore draped
over his arms like an offering
or like a child deeply asleep.
Workers
by Sharon Ashton
illustrated by Niki Holmes
Uprooted from their Eastern beds, women
work the soil in scarves of scarlet and gold;
Matryoshka dolls in our English dust.
Tremulant to swell
by Jean Atkins
illustrated by Poppy Child
a blare of granite sound & then a stealing in
of softness & we drum
soil-deep this prehistoric mound
a mellow thud of bellows held
in the round of churchyard, all
its praying stones
today our heads tipped up to the shining
organ, oak & gold
voicing, by generous subscription, all
the singing centuries
now our heads are weighted down
with walls & bells
& pressure of branching columns lifts
a wooden canopy of quiet, while
in the nave our hearts are wrung –
landlocked, we sit & think of tides
as organ bellows like a bull
& treads the shore we fear
to drive a flight of families across
a continent of noise
thins to our fraying vox humana
all notes of orange
lifejackets bobbing on the swell
so here’s earth’s rumble then
the chord that strikes the blow
Within
Written by Bethany Rivers
Illustrated by Poppy Child
Syria within me
your crumbling empty houses
a skeleton of a city
desolate desecrated
apocalyptic
Palestine within me
your land robbed
olive trees poisoned
crimes against The Wall
barriered bombed broken
Europe within me
every flag of every nation
long peace cross-bordered
patchwork of language & culture
wind carries translations
Blood battles within me
the silent ones that nobody speaks of
in families, out of families, cut between classes
scars and fences needing to be undone
for many generations yet to come
Russian pogroms within me
in the bones of my Great Grandmother
her silent screams from the Pale of Settlement
broken babies
sunset bleeding on the streets
This fountain within me
rich with the song of every tongue
we each gaze into the eyes of the other
everybody holds out their hands
forms one great circle, one voice
Dedicated to Hamid.
Wherever you are now Hamid - I hope you have found the inner peace and happiness you longed for.
What would you take:
What would you leave?
written and illustrated by Niki Holmes
Want would you take -
If you had to flee today?
Just what you could carry,
in one piece of hand luggage.
The practical and the sentimental.
All your life’s essentials.
What would you leave –
If you had to leave today?
From your home and all the long hours,
filled with what you must abandon.
Your friends and your family.
Life’s comforts and security.
Imagine yourself,
becoming someone else.
A shadow cast by the flames
of a conflict that consumes trust.
What then would define you?
The grief, the fear, or some slim thread of hope.
Where would you go -
If you had to flee today?
What would you find -
a land that turns hostile eyes on you
or a smile of welcome?
Imagine being put to the test,
then finding yourself.
That you are all you need.
Someone that can survive and thrive,
resilient and resourceful.
Imagine a time -
being accepted and respected
Imagine -
reconciling your past
and owning your future.
Imagine your sense of relief.
My house is dissolving
Written by Chris Kinsey
Illustrated by Poppy Child
Glass wavers to a mirage -
a bumble bee drones through window holes
last slates scatter into swifts.
It was definitely there last night -
I bedded down between barricades of boxes
when the rain began pelting the roof.
It must’ve decided it isn’t needed
since today is cloudless and so blue…
There’s just this façade.
Birds drench the hole with song
a small lake gurgles up,
lapping and rippling.
There’s nowhere to squat
apart from the tiny proscenium
of the front doorstep.