Untold Stories: Poetry at English Heritage
Untold Stories – Poetry at English Heritage took place in the autumn of 2020. Through new commissions, a poetry exchange and a public competition the programme allowed us to experience English Heritage sites in new ways and offered opportunities for everyone to explore our past through poetry. The programme was co-curated by Jacob Sam-La Rose, English Heritage’s Poet in Residence. This digital anthology brings together a collection of works written as part of the programme. It features poems written in Shout Out Loud workshops led by Malika Booker; as part of the Untold Stories Poetry Competition; and by commissioned poets Esme Allman, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Jay Bernard, Malika Booker, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa and Jacob Sam-La Rose. english-heritage.org.uk/untold-stories
Untold Stories – Poetry at English Heritage took place in the autumn of 2020. Through new commissions, a poetry exchange and a public competition the programme allowed us to experience English Heritage sites in new ways and offered opportunities for everyone to explore our past through poetry. The programme was co-curated by Jacob Sam-La Rose, English Heritage’s Poet in Residence.
This digital anthology brings together a collection of works written as part of the programme. It features poems written in Shout Out Loud workshops led by Malika Booker; as part of the Untold Stories Poetry Competition; and by commissioned poets Esme Allman, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Jay Bernard, Malika Booker, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa and Jacob Sam-La Rose.
english-heritage.org.uk/untold-stories
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inspired by: Deal Castle<br />
where things shouldn’t be<br />
seen from deal castle’s south-facing outer bastions<br />
two figures flo<strong>at</strong> like an oil spill<br />
sink-resistant and surging against waves<br />
they move inland<br />
arrive<br />
flirting with the lonely moon<br />
softening the sullen rock<br />
their burning Black demanding all its light<br />
two women<br />
shore-broken mid-embrace;<br />
holding.<br />
both chests swollen; pressing<br />
against the other taking bre<strong>at</strong>h.<br />
their exhale<br />
a melody<br />
grazing<br />
<strong>at</strong> the beach’s sharp<br />
unhomely air.<br />
they eye each other<br />
wholly; searching beyond.<br />
an easy freedom drifts between their bodies interlocked;<br />
they part<br />
mouths<br />
sculpted in perfect yearning.<br />
and while the sea bleeds onto barren land<br />
they slip <strong>at</strong>op the pebbles to lie idly thrumming<br />
their fingers <strong>at</strong> their sides<br />
the sea dares itself closer towards<br />
the castle thre<strong>at</strong>ening<br />
to restore its simple quiet<br />
clap and slap to best the women’s mounting tune<br />
a wind c<strong>at</strong>ches the castle hisses spits feverish with warning<br />
the women and their song<br />
clashing<br />
a sharp-edged crescendo<br />
last bre<strong>at</strong>h<br />
the seafront shivers;<br />
a blinking.<br />
the beach, once again, fragrant<br />
with peril.<br />
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