Untold Stories: Poetry at English Heritage

Safiya Kamaria
Kinshasa
Iimmediately came up with the idea
of MTV Cribs: Farleigh Hungerford,
as I walked among the ruins of the
castle. I became enthusiastic about the
idea of restoring and inhabiting it with
an imagined owner from a completely
different walk of life. I wanted to reflect
on: home, safety and mortality.
Limbo, written after my visit to Down
House, was perhaps one of the most
difficult poems I have ever had to write. I
walked into what seemed to be a quaint
British country home, past a living room
with a grand piano but then saw a West-
Indian map. My experience of viewing an
orderly exhibition rapidly evolved into a
pursuit of heritage and vindication for a
Guyanese ex-slave, John Edmonstone. I
sought to articulate my honest feelings
about my discoveries while grappling with
the reality of present trauma. I felt it was
my duty to illuminate unknown stories in
the hope of provoking others to question
the framing of British history and who and
what our history education excludes.