Standing Proud Poetry Anthology 2020

A Silent Plea If you are a witness And you can hear it, see it, feel it You are now involved It’s not fair, its wasn’t expected, But it is happening, unfortunately right now You are a witness; you are witnessing this Sometimes a moment can happen faster than you expect Sometimes a moment can catch you off guard Sometimes a sharp moment can leave its mark for a lifetime Sometimes they can change a life Sometimes they can end a life Sometimes they can affect more than one life If you are afraid By what they say By the way they move Please know that I am just as afraid as you If you are scared that they might hurt you Please know I am already in pain too If you feel weak, vulnerable and hollowed Please know I’m wasting away inside too If your body is reacting with a pounding heart Maybe you can hear mine too? Inside I am contorted, trapped between being frozen, considering lashing out and desperate for flight Please come stand next to me You don’t have to stand against them You don’t have to fight back You don’t have to call them out or lead an attack Just stand next to me Please? STANDING PROUD 201

Because right now, there is only me My legs are shaking My voice has cracked I can barely breathe Let alone react If you feel threatened, or even ashamed Please know, I am too Just please, walk forward and stand next to me Please You can just tell me your name Ask if I am OK? You can grab my arm and lead us both away You can laugh them out You can boo them down You can pick up a phone And call them to account You can ask for more people to help us now Please Help protest peacefully, against this hate, Let’s become a herd, a trust, a parade Will you do more than just look my way? Will you be braver than I am today? Neither of us asked for this and I’m sorry I can’t bring myself to ask I might not have the courage to say it but I’m begging inside So please, can you just stand with me here tonight? Will you, be my Ally? Please 202 STANDING PROUD

Arctic Fox I am in front of you Concealed in tundras Centred within a vast, flat Nothing This unsympathetic world Takes Its claws and depletes Flakes of freezing frost Collect Become matted frozen forms This cold collection clings As sharp icy shapes Becoming too heavy to hold It exhausts me It would be easy to succumb to this relentless numbing white void But If I Just Keep moving Forward; Eventually, Those gathered icy stones will Fall Off And become discarded Weighted memory, lost to the wasteland. I am free to roam STANDING PROUD 203

Piercing cold, could never penetrate my core My pelt, It protects me; Keeps all my soft and squishy warmth Inside me I have adapted I have braced. Bitter, blinding gales I have traversed iced walls and snowstorms I have been worn down by them all And I have become Reformed I have a scavenger’s heart A persistent insatiable hunger Bared teeth, exposed expectations Instinct engulfs me The thrill of the hunt That anticipation To finally clasp down and hold the pulse of another in my mouth To let the beat of their blood pass between my lips That feel of a firm grasp That sensation of desperate spasm That release of life That final <gasp> Savouring that hot Oozing trail Lick it clean Swallow The aftermath Of feasting on flesh 204 STANDING PROUD

I howl within slip Let a short content whimper out. To revel in ripped remains The ugly violence of the act itself What it is to be p u l l e d a n d t o r n apart These scraps of affection are hollow I can consume carrion As a means to survive But frozen and dead insides Are never fulfilling When alone in the dead of night The silence scrapes between sheets of ice I’ll stir against the unsettling awareness of my own heartbeat aloud It pulsates beneath my skin as a veil above my skull There is only a spectral plume of breath for company I curl into myself Hold my own tail for comfort and security Let my loneliness close around me And when I wake I look out to the wide and barren landscape in front of me Till I lock on to the scent of opportunity permeating And the vague shape on the wind of something New is formed STANDING PROUD 205

Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Noth Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothin Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothin Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Sheltered In A Vast Flat Nothing Nothing Nothing No Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing N Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Noth Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothin Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothin Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing N Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing N Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothi Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothin Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing. Nothin Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Noth Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Noth Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Noth 206 STANDING PROUD

hing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing ng Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing ng Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing othing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothin Nothing Nothing g Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing hing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing ng Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing ng Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing I am Here Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing ing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing. ng Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing ng Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing g Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing hing Nothing. Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing hing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing hing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing STANDING PROUD 207

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Cover image ‘SHOUT’ by Amanda Hickling. The letters that form the title are hidden amongst the striking geometric panels and intense colour palette. The vibrant hues were selected to represent and celebrate the diversity within the LGBT+ community and the various pride flags. Amanda painted this especially for this publication after a ten-year hiatus from visual arts and found the experience both liberating and cathartic. A limited run of prints of this artwork will be available, so please get in touch with Amanda to order one for yourself. [email protected] 210 STANDING PROUD

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This book is the result of The Word Association’s first Standing Proud writers’ course – six months of weekly writing workshops aimed at the LGBT+ community of Worcestershire and their allies. The project was supported by Worcester City Council and The Elmley Foundation (who allowed us to extend the project in order to help combat the isolation that many suffered as a result of the Covid-19 crisis). This book features a collection of poetry and prose from a talented and dynamic collection of writers. Featuring the work of: Jay Rose Ana, Elizabeth Joy, Sophie Ridge, Nicola Longworth-Cook, Colby Wren Fierek, Kathryn Brice, Steve J. Martin, Becky Leonard-Dixon, Chris Cox, Dawn Wright, Lydia Sofia, Claire G.M Benson, Andrew Gardner and Oliver Bliss. This project was coordinated by The Word Association with support from Out2gether. www.the-word-association.com www.facebook.com/Out2gether Cover image ‘SHOUT’ by Amanda Hickling With support from: 212 STANDING PROUD