Drawing the Word s m e o P
Geiriau ar Gynfas: Cyflwyniad Mae’r casgliad o farddoniaeth hwn yn cynnwys gwaith pobl dros Gymru gyfan a thu hwnt sydd wedi gweithio gyda’r bardd Kittie Belltree mewn cyfres o weithdai creadigol, gyda’r rheiny yn weithdai gan ac ar gyfer awduron anabl. Datblygwyd y prosiect hwn, a oedd yn darparu llwyfan i awduron allu mynegi eu hunain a’u lleisiau amrywiol, mewn partneriaeth rhwng Llenyddiaeth Cymru a Chelfyddydau Anabledd Cymru yn ystod pandemig COVID-19 rhwng Tachwedd 2020 a Mai 2021. Mae cyfranogi mewn gweithgaredd llenyddiaeth a chynrychiolaeth a chydraddoldeb mewn darpariaeth yn helpu i newid dyfodol ein cymunedau mewn modd cadarnhaol, ac mae cyhoeddi’r pamffled hwn yn enghraifft bwysig o sut y gall creadigrwydd helpu i newid bywydau, darparu llwyfannau ar gyfer, ac annog, lleisiau llenyddol sydd yn cael eu tangynrychioli; gan greu diwylliant llenyddol cenedlaethol sy’n cynrychioli Cymru gyfoes.
Llenyddiaeth Cymru Llenyddiaeth Cymru yw’r cwmni cenedlaethol gyda chyfrifoldeb dros ddatblygu llenyddiaeth. Ein gweledigaeth yw Cymru sydd yn grymuso, yn gwella ac yn cyfoethogi bywydau drwy lenyddiaeth. Rydym yn elusen gofrestredig, ac rydym yn gweithio i ysbrydoli cymunedau, datblygu awduron, a dathlu diwylliant llenyddol Cymru. Rydym yn hwyluso, ariannu ac yn cyflawni rhaglenni llenyddol ar draws Cymru.
www.llenyddiaethcymru.org
Drawing the Word: Introduction This poetry collection is the work of people from across Wales and beyond who worked with poet Kittie Belltree in a series of creative workshops specifically by and for disabled writers. This project, which provided a platform for writers to express themselves and have their voices heard, was delivered in partnership between Literature Wales and Disability Arts Cymru during the COVID 19 pandemic from November 2020 to May 2021. Participation in literature activity and Representation and Equality of provision will help positively change the futures of our communities, and the publication of this pamphlet is an important example of how creativity can help change lives, provide platforms for, and encourage underrepresented literary voices; creating a national literary culture which represents contemporary Wales.
Literature Wales Literature Wales is the national company for the development of literature. Our vision is a Wales where literature empowers, improves, and brightens lives. We are a registered charity, and work to inspire communities, develop writers and celebrate the literary culture of Wales. We facilitate, fund, and directly deliver a literary programme across Wales.
www.literaturewales.org
Celfyddydau Anabledd Cymru Celfyddydau Anabledd Cymru yw’r arweinydd celfyddydau cenedlaethol ar gyfer celfyddydau anabledd a Byddar, gan greu profiadau celfyddydol o safon sydd o fudd i bawb. Maent yn cyfeirio cefnogaeth tuag at egin artistiaid ac artistiaid anabl a Byddar profiadol ar draws Cymru, gan geisio gwneud cysylltiadau ledled y wlad a hefyd yn gweithio tuag at gael effaith ryngwladol wrth hyrwyddo mynegiadau ac ymarfer celfyddydol trwy lens anabledd. Rydym yn cefnogi cannoedd o artistiaid sy’n aelodau CAC, gan gynnig cyngor i bobl greadigol newydd a phrofiadol, gan helpu i hyrwyddo eu gwaith i gynulleidfa ehangach.
https://disabilityarts.cymru/
Kittie Belltree Mae casgliad barddoniaeth gyntaf Kittie Belltree, Sliced Tongue and Pearl Cufflinks (Parthian, 2019), yn archwilio’r cysylltiadau rhwng yr hunan, y teulu a’r cartref. Mae ei cherddi, straeon byrion ac adolygiadau wedi eu cyhoeddi mewn ystod o gyfnodolion a blodeugerddi gan gynnwys Cut on the Bias (Honno, 2010) a The Brown Envelope Book: Poetry and Prose on Experiences of Unemployment, The Benefits System, Disability and the Work Capability Assessment (Caparison, 2021). Enillodd Kittie Wobr Gair Creadigol DAC 2020 ac y mae hi hefyd wedi derbyn Ysgoloriaeth Awdur gan Llenyddiaeth Cymru. Mae’n gweithio fel Tiwtor Arbenigol ar gyfer myfyrwyr niwroamrywiol ym Mhrifysgol Aberystwyth, ble mae hi hefyd yn dysgu ar y cwrs Ysgrifennu Creadigol israddedig, wrth iddi gwblhau ei doethuriaeth sydd yn archwilio barddoniaeth a thrawma.
Disability Arts Cymru Disability Arts Cymru is the national arts leader for disability and Deaf arts, creating quality arts experiences that benefit all. It directs support for emergent and established disabled and Deaf artists throughout Cymru, seeking to make connections across the nation and also work to have an international impact in promoting arts expressions and practice through the lens of disability. We support hundreds of artists who are DAC members, offering advice to new and established creatives and helping promote their work to a wider audience.
https://disabilityarts.cymru/
Kittie Belltree Kittie Belltree’s debut poetry collection, Sliced Tongue and Pearl Cufflinks (Parthian, 2019) explores fractured connections of self, family and home. Her poems, short stories and reviews have been published in a range of journals and anthologies including Cut on the Bias (Honno, 2010) and The Brown Envelope Book: Poetry and Prose on Experiences of Unemployment, The Benefits System, Disability and the Work Capability Assessment (Caparison, 2021). Kittie won the DAC Creative Word Award 2020 and has been a Literature Wales Bursary recipient. She works as a Specialist Tutor for neurodivergent students at Aberystwyth University where she also teaches on the undergraduate Creative Writing programme and is putting the finishing touches to her PhD exploring poetry and trauma.
Drawing the Word Poems Poems by Gemma Jayne Paine
Docklands Below The Bridge In this place from where the tiger roared The tide ebbs and flowed into the bay over the mud flats up to the sea wall Migrant birds fly and feed in wetlands on the banks of the River Taff Sailor’s return home to their families and newcomers arrive from faraway places All welcomed into the community
Tiger Bay Butetown Cardiff Docks To live in harmony in this interracial melting pot Yemeni, Somali, Maltese, West Indian, Chinese and Goanese People of many different faiths join in each other’s celebrations Hindus, Muslims and Christians Breaking bread at Ramadan, Children sharing Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah, Easter - and Christmas cheer Doors left open to share the gossip and a cup of tea While groups of men played dominos and cards in the bars and gambled down in the back street lanes
Gemma Jayne Paine
Gemma Jayne Paine
In this multicultural land of Wales Children of all nations played together Sharing fun and laughter, fishing together on the timber float This community below the bridge looked out for each other As policemen patrolled in twos and threes Down Bute Street to the Pier Head, Dock Offices Stopping drunken brawls in notorious dockside pubs With scary long forgotten names, the Bomb and Dagger and the Bucket of Blood While Sailors, Ship Owners and Chandlers all worked together around the bay
Cut off from the City by the Great Western Railway Line Those memories remain with the Victorian Homes on Windsor Esplanade Long gone the three storey homes of the ship owners on Loudoun Square Yet tradition culture still remembered in the music and carnivals Bringing a sense of togetherness, remembering the legends of Tiger Bay Shirley Bassey, Betty Campbell, Vick Parker jazz guitarist Joe Erskine, Billy Boston and Tommy the Fish pushing his cart The Casablanca Club, North Star and Quebec Hotel Ghosts from the past that still haunt Cardiff Bay
Memories of days gone by Made in Japan Rattle around in the cutlery draw metal clinks against metal It scratches and scuffs On once gleaming surfaces Now manufactured in faraway places China, Korea, and Japan Stainless, nickel silver, chromium plated this flat piece of steel shaped in a press Spooning in sugar into tea stirring coffee round and round Ladling honey onto cereals Sensually licking off the residue learning a trick cutting the grapefruit segments Egg spoon me please Join me at home for the ceremony At the Tea House of the August Moon Loose tea green blended Jasmin delicately flavoured carefully spooned in a silver scoop Hot water poured slowly to warm the china pot Into traditional porcelain tasting cups Sitting cross legged in ceremony robes served by a painted Geisha Girl Stir lemon in slowly to taste to taste
Seaside
Gemma Jayne Paine
Metal Boxed Caravan, static anchored to a concrete block as bacon crisps, I sift for treasure buried in the dunes held together by clumps of marram grass These singing sands scream loudly for a saviour Arthur, Lancelot, Gogh Dragon maybe a Prince of Peace to free this land of barbarians and bring prosperity thus mend a broken heart Return Queen Guinevere to this sacred shore and dream of a life far away in those mists of time Imagination can conjure strange thoughts along this Celtic Coast of Wales out there beyond the breakers, warriors wait patiently, treading water Before they clamber upon their boards ready ride the western ocean rollers back towards the shore charging full tilt at rainbows See the clear water lapping at my heels smell salty air look children building sand castles, battlements and digging moats to protect a stretch of coast from pirates on the shore This peaceful haven invaded through the summer months by holiday makers worshipping the sun Like their forebear’s, they wish to tan an optimal shade of brown To drink the ale and wine as they dine on fresh produce of the land and sea As the season changes autumn turns to gold harvest from the land and sea are stored The winter weather turns to ice and snow and time moves full circle through the seasons of our lives we learn to cherish those near and dear We wait once more to breathe the air of spring quietly thinking peaceful thoughts with all who strive to make this world a better place
Darkness turns to light I’m hanging on to dreams with eyes wide open still craving sleep Not wanting to close my eyes for fear of the green bogey man sitting waiting with his green bottle of nasty tasting medicine besides my body clock tells me to get out of bed Woofer has to go out doors The pooch stirs fretting for breakfast kibbles and wet food In need of the bathroom though she’s not quite sure which is priority because she gets excited either way so it’s the toilet first then we breakfast together to relax with an early morning cup of tea that wakes me from my slumber and stirs the cogs inside my fuzzy brain
Pink Candy Floss Across the yard we walk under apple trees Mia the dog and I Meeting the light of dawn Maybe it’s the tree line That made the sky more noticeable Separating the mauve and pink from that blank white canvas Could it be the dappled lemon drizzle up against the faded blue Like turning off the dimmer switch The darkness turns to light In a sky of Pink Candy floss This new day magically painted in the dawn I don’t remember if there was bird song Just the silence in the air
Gemma Jayne Paine
Trike Pink abandoned on the pavement oh my god where’s the child hopefully not been put out for the bin in this world of disposably throwaway goods always wanting, something new No nothing, so sinister just outgrown Placed out on the pavement with good intention In need of a good home ideal for a child of three or four Maybe a girl too pink for a boy besides decorated with multi coloured buntings Ever so shiny and a push along pole for mum or dad to give a helping hand been tagged with a notice Free To A Good Home in need of a child to play with To pedal up and down the road
Gemma Jayne Paine
Please take, do not leave me to be broken because I’m lonely on my own Help me find a space in someone’s heart In need to be loved and cherished Hopefully with someone who will care Before the scrap man passes by Not left to be covered in dead leaves and broken branches torn from the trees I’m nearly new an ideal starter trike for a deserving child To play on in the park Or could I have done better in a charity shop
Ian Faulkner Poems A Mirror I am a mighty Oak...flexible, strong and permanent. In leafy Warwickshire I manifested, this time. My roots are ancient and spiritual...son of the Seventh Chieftain of the Druidic Order of Bath. I am imbued with compassion, faithfulness and, most of all, pure love. My acorns are organic, plentiful, naturally seasonal. I am a gentle giant whose power and purpose are immense. My cup overflows with graciousness and goodness. I am here to serve. My cup overfloweth with love. I am a mighty Oak.
Innocence I ate from the same delicious apple...red as Angela’s soft cheeks...I succumbed to temptation. Her furtive tongue tasted of strawberries and thick cream. Our playground was a vast, walled and fruitful orchard. At the outside shack of a toilet, she pulled me inside, showed me her dark and secret womanhood. I couldn’t tell anyone! What had we done? I was merely eight; Angela a beguiling, fulsome twelve.
Gemma Jayne Paine
2020/2021CE The fleeting visits of the postman is all that stands between us and utter loneliness. The diabolical lockdown; after lockdown; after lockdown... and down and down we go. The endless chain of broken dreams, shattered hopes... unanswered prayers. The insidious effects upon our mental health... our physical suffering...our excruciating pain. The egregious stifling of our basic human rights...thou shalt not congregate...thou shalt not go to church...thou shalt not...thou shalt not. The solution is simple...I love myself totally, unconditionally; as I love all of my brothers and sisters. That I will serve Him the better and better...this is the time. Now. Now. Now.
Shekinashram Shekina means, ‘The Divine Feminine’. This ashram sits upon the Mary Earth Energy Line on Dod Lane, in Glastonbury’s Sacred Landscape...the entrance gate, just past the Tibetan Prayer Wheels cavorting day and night, is dominated by the mighty Om insignia. Pass through, and you enter another realm...leave behind the dross and stress...become berthed, beached, calm and tranquil in a World Peace Garden. The Temple room at Shekina has a special energy; turbocharged with healing, swirling energy of Spirit - Holy Spirit. I first met Kali here...She embraced me, again and again, with Her perfume, Her hot breath, Her Kundalini. She set my torso on fire, burnished my chakras, healed my body, pacified my mind. She taught me how to know God as both male and female...the perfect unification of opposites. To leave the Shekina is to leave behind everything that we hold dear - to re-embrace our troubled world.
An Oasis The Camel train stopped abruptly as we entered Ta’if, in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. What struck me most was the wonderful verdure, after days traversing the seemingly endless desert. Sand-dune after sand-dune; the moaning of the hot wind. The multifaceted, sharp grains of sand, cutting into the back of my hands, sting my face. As we gingerly dismounted our camels, it was prayer-time...the penultimate prayer-time today. Instinctively, all faced East, in the time honoured tradition. All except me, the lone infidel. I thought it an appropriate time to prostate myself upon my Beduin carpet, get out my leather-bound journal and record some images. Multitudinous birds sang...the vibrancy of their colours a delight for the eye. The everlasting Sun shone brightly. The delicious nectar of numerous fruit blossoms wafted through the air. I needed the toilet...Prince Sa’ud’s son took my hand. "Come with me" he said, smilingly. Our leather sandals squeaked as we walked out across the sand, just as daylight faded. "Here is toilet, Mr Ian...no Kleenex, plenty of sand" the boy said. Then I was alone. Later, as is the custom, I was offered the supreme delicacy - the great honour - of the sheep’s eye. "No Englishman has been this way since Lawrence of Arabia" stated His Highness, Prince Saudi Bin Salman Bin Mohammad Al-Saud. I gulped, swallowed hard...the eye was gone. What a memorable time!
Gemma Jayne Paine
A Love Letter Dear Waterman, You are truly my precious friend. The unique relationship that we share transcends ordinary love. Your nine carot gold knib pours forth my deepest thoughts, spills out my heart’s desires. Lays bare the true yearning of my very Soul. Waterman, mere words can never display the vast breadth of my total adoration for you...your pearlescent, green lacquer embodies my longing, my desire to tenderly caress you. When I embrace you in my right hand, you become my comforter...you give body and shape, a meaning to my very being. It is to you that I turn to, the wonderfully hand crafted instrument of my desire.
Poets and Poetry Silently, the email sneaked in and, in that moment, the Drawing the Word workshop was cancelled. The Divine Feminine poet, Kittie Beltree had been taken ill and, since that moment, this would-be poet has been grounded...not a single spark of creativity illumined the mind. Change occurred when Wainwright’s of Aberystwyth’s organic Zambian, cold-pressed, raw, forest honey arrived. Such healing, inspirational nectar feeds the body/mind, nurtures the poetic soul. Last night I traversed Dumnovia, in an instant, just like a flash of lightning crosses the outraged sky. Kittie Beltree, hear me...poets and poetry need thee...be well.
Julia Baines Poems Sennen, Cornwall Travelling down the steep road through the narrow roads into the car park, few spaces for the many people wanting to see the white sands and blue rough seas blowing in. People using the tarmac around the cars as mini changing rooms, towels all around. Find a space and pay the hefty price of parking fees. Wander to the beach shoes off and delve into the soft sand which makes it hard to walk. Warm to the touch. Looking up viewing the cove surrounded by cliffs. Rocks on the beach like boulders used as back of seats. Picnic out as looking at the café built into the cliff, looking expensive at £5 a cup. My flask tastes ever sweeter.
To Dave Parents away, party time. Crowds come calling, the doorbell rings out. Music blares, good job neighbours invited. Oh, my he came. Sly looks, he asks for this dance. Slow and gentle he holds me close. Thirty-eight years on still together through strife and ailment. Eight governments in and out through the years. Weak and disabled from age and illness. A moment of time long ago. A decision to dance. A life of love and laughter. Enlarged belly and hips, and as for Dave greying hair. From young to midlife. Children away, party time!
Greenhouse Frog I start as a blank page, soaked and blotted. Pressed onto the face of metal cold and sharp. Squeezed through the press like a sheet in a mangle. Marked with lines and scratches etched and inked into the metal. Sandwiched, I feel flat. Daylight the other end, blanket removed. A face and body of a frog, I hop to the artist’s table. Hung out to dry. Lacking in colour, the brush dances across my face and brings me to life. Encompassed in card, wood, and glass. Hung in the gallery for all to view me. How wonderful to be in the limelight. Title: ‘Greenhouse Frog’
Julia Baines
Gemma Jayne Paine
Jools Journey Park the car. Do I need to turn around and back out? This is a big move on my part. Crowds milling, the excitement of youth all around. I feel the excitement, but anxiety as well. “Welcome, come in.” The large hall didn’t help my fears, and as a mature student I looked out of place. Enrolment day. Sign on the dotted line. From kitchen Chef to student in one ink mark. Apparently, ‘the pen is mightier than the sword! Hope for the future and ‘knowledge is king’ Finished with a 2.1 in BA (hons) followed by a Post Graduate Diploma, then ‘boom’ struck by a stroke. An MA is on the horizon. Who knows what will happen?
Anticipation Spring appears. Warm pre-summer day. Blossoms, snowflakes, and candy floss. Nectar steeps into the air. Cool breezes, leaves shiver. Wide blue sky. Anticipating Swifts fly by.
Gemma Jayne Paine