The purpose of our words

This weekend I sought to better understand how my writing could serve a purpose. Over Christmas, I was gifted the opportunity to participate in a course with the talented author Victoria Adukwei Bulley through Faber and Faber . This course offered a platform to learn more about the writing process of poetry and how to explore its connection with audiences. With a view to both solidifying my learning and sharing its application, I want to share some reflections and where I believe it provides scope to do more.

The workshop began with some introductions exploring who had joined and the notion of what our name represents. Following this we began our first exercise, where we were encouraged to engage in a free writing session. Freewriting is an exercise of writing without stopping or editing for a fixed amount of time, designed to allow an author the opportunity to simply create. Our prompt for the session was to consider either a dream we remembered or a scene from a movie from which we could expand. For me, the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind acted as a helpful inspiration, where instead of exploring the concept of the movie and the notion of what we forget, I opted to consider the notion of memory. I wanted to explore the observational nature of the main character Joel as he sought to procure the services of a company who could remove memories. As someone who typically seeks to question the world around me, I was drawn to a simple principle. What are the stories we tell ourselves?

Through this lesson we were prompted to write in second person, seeking to remain emotionally objective. Poetry is often seen as self indulgent; through removing ourselves our compositions, it allows us to be seen as a character and changes the relationship with our work. A question of how do we make meaning? For me, there are a number of benefits:

• Universal yet personal - The "you" can simultaneously represent a specific individual and a universal reader. This dual nature allows the poem to feel both intimately personal and broadly relatable. For example, in Claudia Rankine's "Citizen," the second person perspective helps readers experience microaggressions first-hand while also speaking to collective experiences.
• Active engagement - Second person naturally creates a sense of movement and action. Rather than passively observing, the reader becomes an actor in the poem's scenario. This can be particularly powerful when exploring themes of choice, responsibility, or personal transformation.
• Defamiliarisation - By casting the reader as "you," everyday experiences can be made strange and new. Simple actions like walking down a street or making coffee can be reframed in surprising ways when filtered through second person address.

Our second exercise provided the opportunity to analyse a number of poems as we read them aloud to the gathered attendees. Reading poetry aloud unlocks a wealth of benefits that transform both our understanding and appreciation of the work. When we speak the words, the patterns become physically tangible; rhythm, metre, alliteration, and rhyme schemes reveal themselves through our breath and voice.

The natural pauses we take at line breaks help illuminate the poem's structure and meaning, forcing us to consider why the poet chose specific breaks or stanza arrangements. Our breath and pacing must adapt to these choices, making us active participants in the poem's construction. The physical act of speaking also connects us more deeply to the emotional content, as we literally give voice to the speaker's feelings through tone, volume, and emphasis.

Difficult language often becomes clearer when spoken, as the act of voicing complex syntax helps untangle meaning. We must decide how to group phrases and where to place emphasis, which naturally improves our comprehension. Multiple possible meanings frequently emerge when we experiment with different ways of reading a line aloud; a phrase that seems straightforward on the page might reveal clever double meanings through varied emphasis or pacing. Moreover, since poetry began as an oral art form, reading aloud connects us to this ancient tradition and reveals how contemporary poets still craft their work with sound and voice in mind.

One of the poems which remained with me since Saturday is a poem entitled "Meditations in an Emergency". This beautiful poem by Cameron Awkward-Rich explores themes of empathy, urban life, and the tension between hope and heartbreak. Let me break down several key elements:

The repetition of "breaks my heart" creates a rhythm that emphasises how the speaker finds both beauty and pain in everyday experiences. Everything from simple morning routines to witnessing urban poverty moves them deeply.

The poem can be divided into two main parts:

1. The first part lists observations of daily life - from personal moments (drawing blinds) to public scenes (men in suits, homeless encampments, flower sellers). Each observation "breaks" the speaker's heart, suggesting both vulnerability and deep connection to the world around them.
2. The second part shifts to describe a dream where borders disappear and love for the world becomes possible. The image of running "fingers through her hair" personifies the Earth as feminine and suggests tenderness.

The line "Like you, I was born. Like you, I was raised in the institution of dreaming" creates a universal connection between the speaker and reader, suggesting we all share the capacity for both hope and heartbreak. The final lines "Hand on my heart. Hand on my stupid heart" reflect a complex relationship with this sensitivity - there's both acceptance and self-deprecation in calling one's heart "stupid" for feeling so much.

The workshop went on to explore the notion of "borrowing" in poetry and using the words of poetry as a jumping off point; a response where you can offer critique or complement the work of others. The concept of borrowing in poetry represents an interweaving of voices, traditions, and cultural dialogues that span centuries of literary practice. When examining borrowing in poetry, we must consider the deliberate references and allusions that poets weave into their work. These create intricate layers of meaning through established literary and cultural touchstones. The practice extends to the very architecture of poetry itself, as poets adopt and adapt traditional forms across cultural boundaries.

Language itself becomes a shared resource, as poets take phrases and lines from other works, recontextualising them to create new meanings. This might manifest in the use of epigraphs to frame new works, or in the creation of centos - poems crafted entirely from others' lines, arranged to create entirely new meanings. These borrowings can range from subtle echoes to direct quotations, each serving to place the new work in dialogue with its predecessors.

The cultural dimension of borrowing encompasses the way poets draw upon myths, folklore, historical events, and ceremonial traditions. This raises vital questions about authenticity, appropriation, and the responsibility of poets to their source material. The practice invites us to consider how poetry serves as a vehicle for cultural memory and transmission, whilst remaining alert to issues of power and privilege in these exchanges. Contemporary poets continue to engage in this practice of borrowing, though perhaps with greater awareness of its complexities. When Cameron Awkward-Rich borrows O'Hara's title "Meditations in an Emergency," the act creates a bridge between different poetic moments whilst establishing its own distinct voice and concerns. This exemplifies how borrowing can enrich rather than diminish poetic expression.

The final section of the workshop provided a chance to share our own writing and explore issues such as the "poetic line". I found particular value in being able to consider the notion of the authors voice and finding a focus. To anyone who has followed my contribution to the discourse of inclusive economic development, there is an awareness of how I have used poetry as a form of communication. Alongside capturing insights from events, or summarising articles, poetry has become a vehicle through which I have been able to demonstrate a competency in the field. Poetry acts to bring to life alternative forms of economic discussion. It offers to simplify complex alternatives and counter narratives which have become engrained. Sharing some of my poems with the gathered audience, I welcomed the fact that both my written and spoken word had connected with them and that the quality seemed to align with the lessons of the day. Looking back at the poem above "Meditations in an Emergency", one line which I borrowed on the day was as follows:

"... the city of tents beneath the underpass..."

To end this article and to reconnect with a focus for the year ahead, I wish to share a poem exploring the concept of economic inequality and homelessness. While I can't hope to speak to the experience of those who find themselves living on the street, I have sought to better educate myself in this space and understand their lived realities:

The city of tents

Between the glass towers, our city rises at dusk: streets mapped in nylon, neighbourhoods of blue and green fabric pressed close as kindred.

Here, we have our own highways: desire paths worn through grass. Our own town squares: circles of camp stoves warming hands and stories.

Our buildings breathe, walls rippling with wind, architecture of necessity - a metropolis of temporary rooms growing denser by darkness.

Morning is a collective awakening: zips opening in orchestra, a hundred hidden lives emerging into light. Steam rises from shared coffee stations, our sidewalk cafes. Some tents become libraries, paperbacks stacked carefully against weather. Others transform to marketplaces: the commerce of borrowed time. We have our own post office: messages passed tent to tent, warnings of coming storms, of kindness spotted in unexpected corners.

Our suburbs spread in silence, while above, their city sleeps behind glass; unaware of our streets growing beneath their feet.

P.S. One final takeaway from this workshop was the need to recite more of my poetry. I plan to spend more time recording my readings and hope this helps in terms of connection to my writing.