28th January
Hi All
What a busy week it’s been. I’ve given talks on what went on behind the cameras in the making of some of our all-time favourite movies, such as Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music and Some Like It Hot.
I’ve also run two poetry writing workshops but perhaps most importantly, I hosted a Holocaust themed Open Mic event at Stanmore Library. It was well attended and some of the poetry and readings will stay with me for a long time.
February’s subject for the competition will be The Sense of Smell. I was on the train the other day when I caught a whiff of 4711 Eau de Cologne and immediately thought of my late grandmother. I would go round to her little flat in Hackney and while she fed me Garibaldi (or dead fly) biscuits, she sang me old music hall songs, many of which I remember and now sing to my grandchildren.
Last month’s subject was A New Me. Harrow’s winner is Sukriti Bisht and here’s her poem:
A NEW ME, A NEW WORLD
by Sukriti Bisht
When you are faced with a problem and don’t know what to do,
Breathe in and out slowly, then with a calm mind continue.
When you’re under lots of stress and there’s lots of work to get through,
Remember to spare time for those most important to you.
When anger kicks in and all is not well,
Stay composed, try not to yell.
When hope, joy and all is lost, although this may be a cliché
Believe in yourself, tomorrow can be better than today.
When your friends are upset, your friends need you most,
Don’t leave them in the dark, don’t say ‘Adios.’
When you see homeless people crying on the street,
This time don’t ignore them and donate a small treat.
When you’re left with a wrapper just smile, even grin,
Respect Mother Earth, walk over to the bin.
With these little rules, and these little laws,
I am determined to get rid of all my flaws.
Global warming, wars, poverty, betrayal and diseases too,
A new world starts with a new me and a new world starts with a new you.
Barnet’s winning poet is Marie-Géraldine Lauzier and her poem is:
BUY A PACK OF CIGARETTES AND LEAVE
by Marie-Géraldine Lauzier
Buy a pack of sweets
Just go to the shop
and leave
Just go
More than a page turned
Leave the book behind
Write a new one
can you?
Scenarios in your head
When your body moves
But your head steps back
Your life goes on
without you
Absent minded
take your body with you
You don’t need to smoke to leave
Just go
The end or
the beginning?
A NEW ME BY BABS LEE
I met him on Trinder
Or was it Tinder
He told me he acted in a film or two
"O really is that what you do".
It was love at first sight
So we spent the night
I saw him on the box
And I was seeing him lots and lots
Will you marry me?
He went down on one knee.
"I've been offered a really big part".
A brand new start
Hollywood with the stars
Three new cars.
I said goodbye to M and S
The cafe on the corner, eggs and sausages the best
My rickety old fence
Pounds and pence
Sainsbury's and Tescos
And the Thames River that gallantly flows
The horrible rain
The underground train
Now I live in Hollywood
A swim in our garden pool feels so good
The sun is hot all day long
Madonna next door singing a song
Brad Pitt lives on the other side
Which new car shall I drive?
I've got over twenty pairs of silvery shoes
A two week holiday on a luxury cruise
I have lunches out which last for hours
And my home is filled with beautiful flowers
A new me is born and I'm having fun
No more wrinkles I feel so young!!
A NEW ME BY KUSUM HARS
I was in a place with trees full of blossoms
Lazing under their boughs, feeling the sun
Streaming through the gaps between the leaves
Warming my body, as I closed my eyes
And enjoyed the feel, wishing it to last.
Suddenly I heard a voice say "It is a boy "
I drifted into sleep and woke up in a room
With a baby besides me, a little beautiful soul.
My joy knew no bound, that moment I felt a change
This was my baby, my son and belonged to me
This 'new me' gave me a thrill and I under the sun
Changed for the next thirty years into a full time mum.
But at last the children found their wings and flew away
I did not have a place in their lives, from day to day.
With some sadness I turned away and looked around
At what life could offer me and this is what I found
Writing and painting made me happy and feel new
Which I never could imagine I would be, in my view
Yet again I think, Que Sera Sera what will the future be
A new me, a grandma to a babe, or just the old me
Incarnation by Derek Barretto
In my Beginning, before I sensed light
prior to Mum cradling me to her breasts
embryonic, wondrous so very bright
‘ere Nursery, School, Society’s behests
I learned chameleon-like
it’s better to compromise
blend into the crowd than to strike
out against The Establishment’s lies
Yet I will ever seek out the downtrodden
knowing I am one of them
brown face in a black and white Armageddon
there’s no relief from swallowed phlegm
I tell myself I can change
like a leopard changing its spots
coaxing my ego never to derange
a snake sheds its skin and it rots
Can I really turn over a new leaf
exchange old self for a new me
or would my efforts end in grief
like the Titanic a-floundering in the sea?
A New Me by H C Lambe
Today I awoke and what did I see
Something that looked like a brand new me
My face was young and my body taught
My, my what has happened was my first thought
So I sprang out of bed
Full of vim and vigour
Ready to face the day
My confidence bigger
I would save the world
And make everyone rich
There would be work for all
Without a hitch
I washed and shaved and ran down the stairs
For a hearty breakfast that I would prepare
Then suddenly nothing was what it seeemed
With great disappointment I realised it was just a dream!
A NEW ME by Jeffery A Edmunds
At first I was afraid. It was a step too far
The fire raged inside the furnace
It would consume me, but I could not stop this thing
It was happening and I moved as on a conveyer belt
But when I stepped inside, the fire was cold
I was not fried
The cold fire stripped away everything
There was no abrasion, no sting
I passed through wind and darkness into a long room
lined with mirrors
I feared to look. I imagined many terrors
I didn’t want to see. Surely the mirrors lied to me?
I saw a creature: a new model, a brand new me
Not a blemish, not a line of age. My body moved
perfectly. There was no fault to see
I fitted my skin like an Adonis, consummately
As I drank this intoxicating cup,
I woke up….
Time For Me Turn Over A New Leaf by Patricia J Tausz
At this year's end I've decided to turn over a new leaf
I'm trying to think of ways of becoming a new me
I'm about to let all my emotions run free
And hope they'll bring no one any grief.
I'll try new makeup, perhaps a new hair style
Perhaps I'll have in curls instead of keeping it straight
And then on the town I can remain until rather late
I want to be a different person to the one you keep on file.
I want to become full of fun
No longer so serious I wish to be
So that it's impossible for you to recognise me
And like never before I hope many heads will be spun
All because I've become a new me
As from the turn of the year that's all you'll see.
THE NEW ME by Lisa Cohen
Having reached your pension year
Let me whisper in your ear
Don't give up your daytime job
To become a telly slob
A new world awaits our Senior Cits
To prevent the brain from losing bits
Short Mat Bowls are worth a try
To help the hours go slowly by
Hey, what about discount passes
For films, buses, fitness classes?
Arms up, knees bend, ra-ra-ra
tops us from getting ga-ga-ga
So what if grey hairs are peeping through
They look quite "now" on classy you
Wrinkles and crinkles, no such sign
You're maturing nicely like fine port wine
It's up to you, to carry the torch
Never mind rocking to sleep on the porch
Getting older is just a number
Not for you, hours of slumber
So get cracking, and leave your bed
Think forward to what lies ahead
Even the slowest person shouts aloud
I've achieved "getting there . I'm so proud"
Speaking from experience. I'll never give in
If I've got a pulse, can breathe, then I'll win.
A New Me by Elliot Lever
I being me with old me now escaping me
I being I with no one by my side
I being far but near
I being knowing finding longing to be me anew
I being new to me
I being being being with me
I being the me you you no longer know
I being you being me
I being being you with me
I being being me with you
A new me being being being being.
Hope you enjoyed this small selection of some the poems received this month. Think you could do better about the sense of smell? Then email me by the 22nd February.
Have a good month.
Judy Karbritz
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