Walsall’s poets have been collaborating for a community poem project organised by Hope Radio. Hope Radio, which broadcasts on 87.9 FM and online, was born during the coronavirus pandemic with one simple aim - to bring hope to the people of the local community.
“We have an OFCOM licence and we are run by volunteers” said Hope Radio presenter and Walsall resident Ian Henery. “It was decided that, as part of our on-going work to connect with our community, we would invite our listeners to submit a single line of poetry that could then be woven into a tapestry of a larger community poem to create a totally original piece of work. The results have been staggering with people from all walks of life sending us their lines and recording themselves reading their contributions for broadcast.”
Hope Radio received such a massive response that they have had to split the work into separate poems. The first poem is entitled “ Multi-Colour Ribbon of Music & Chat" and the title is provided by a line from Lisa Johnston whose contribution appears within this poem. Within this first poem are also contributions from Elizebeth Stoney, an artist living in Australia.
Walsall poets collaborating in the project included Rebecca Johal, Phil Buckley, Ellis Unchained, Andy Summers, Anthony J Ball, Andrea Bradley, Gerald Kells, Angie James & Leanne Cooper.
“We are very grateful to everyone who has contributed” said Ian Henery who presents The Ian Henery Show twice a week on Hope Radio. “Big respect to all during this unprecedented chapter of our shared history “.
Multi-Colour Ribbon of Music & Chat (Hope Radio Community Poem)
Fear Breeding panic
That leads to dependency
Where false leaders thrive.
The crunching sounds
Of nameless stones,
Thoughts spun like ballerinas
Bending into the winds of change
And her mouth
Was filled with silence.
The walkers
Choose their own pathways,
Patterns of intention
In diversity.
Bacterium delirium seeps
Through the empty corners of my smile.
Convex surface between
Bleeds golden with dreaming,
Skin stretched taut
Merely touches the healing:
Hope - all is well.
If I knew then,
What I know now,
My whispered wishes
Would have been more
Than childish whims
If I knew you existed
Years before.
To have hope
Is to have belief,
We can make a difference;
To have hope
Is to have belief;
We can have deliverance,
Have self-belief and love.
The hour is right
To bring hope back,
There is elegance and power.
Perched precariously
On our hopeful bikes
Creating words of enchantment
In adversity.
A multi-colour ribbon
Of music and chat
For us to educate people
That in diversity
Weaves community together,
Celebrating on Hope Radio
In every step.
To hope
Is only to abandon fear.
Blessed sunshine
Pales to cool moonlight.
Our path revealed
To sacred insight,
Hearts filled with love.
Restricted love
Is not love at all.
When you start to put your focus
On the good things that exists
In your life
No matter how small they are
You can change your life.
Yet Under the wings of love
We can fly,
Living in the moment.
Calm morning light
Fills the room with hope
In diversity.
Hope
A diverse rope
That ties down consternation.
Life`s hard, lonely without love:
We need to care
For each other,
That`s what community`s about.
Read it
Hear it, feel it, taste it
But don`t sniff it!
Make time for the one
You love.
Let us be one
Instead of many.
Hope Radio 87.9 FM is grateful to the following poets for donating 1 line for the Hope Radio Community Poem:
Rajbinder (“Rebecca”) Johal
Phil Buckley
John Carpenter
Nina Lewis
Ellis Unchained
Kezzabelle Ambler
Angie Angel
Maurice Malcolm
Lisa Johnston
Andy Summers
Daniel Kay
Anthony J Ball
Yvonne Ugarte
Julia Dean-Richards
Surjit Dhami
Debbie Aldous
Niven Smith
Rachel Charlotte Green
Elizabeth Stoney
Andrea Bradley
Gerald Kells
Angie James
Leanne Cooper
