arthur+martha poetry

I go to build in each corner

2011-03-10T02:11:00.000-08:00

a map of you is a poetic and visual guide to Manchester as seen through the eyes of homeless and vulnerably housed people. Below is our first poem:

I was born here in

memories

are the reason I remain

family

push you or

pull you in

otherwise I'd be out of here like a

bullet from a gun

the historical a changing face

a face, not just a construction

in Manchester you're back

in the 1800s

the British Rail toilets

Victoria

a church a hidden gem

it's timeless the statues come at you

off Albert Square, back to a godly age

renaissance motivating the statues

it's not just family it's roots

call

could be your dog or

the John Rylands Library

grotesques on the outside

the Xmas market looking up

the cathedral brick-by-brick brought

during its heyday

the Salford Quays the shipyards

the canals of

the waterways of

Manchester

Manchester I go to build all time

change change change

more new new new new

the bomb that devastated

I go to build in each corner

brilliant shops of the best sort

this is where the money is Piccadilly Gardens

Manchester Royal

the zephyr cars the flowergarden a place to sit

a walkway from Victorian times

remember back in the day

everyone would just chip in

food after food on the tables

the Victorians

the Victory Party

lost in

Heaton Park

the boating lake when I was a kid

the little museum

Belle Vue the circus

the dinosaur speedway

tunnels going under

the speedway you could feel the gravel hitting you

from two miles away

I guarantee

Sale Waterpark dead quiet

an underground market that sells everything in memory

the Three Peaks I love it but I'm

scared of heights

the place I sit back and enjoy is the sky bar

you can see a distance

I'm waiting for the April showers to come

waiting

for the lightning

watch the lightning over the Peak District

flashing down the hillside

striking down the hillside.

Group poem

Booth Centre

22^nd Feb 2011

Sanctuary

2011-03-10T02:08:00.000-08:00

The following poem was written by V, a participant in our 'map of you' group at the Booth Centre in Manchester.

sanctuary

get the bus and GO to the calm to the peaceful

know where I'm going to the lovely there

talking to country people chills me wakes me

it bores me the city the daily

I like to walk when the light's going I'm coming

home I know exactly where I'm coming back to

the smell the cold breezy air the sound

the sheep

thrush in the morning the same one that

wakes me

in the city it's stressful to me very cos you can't move in

that space you can't breathe everybody walks right through

you jumping from one side to the other panic attacks

back to the wall

got to go through to quiet draw a veil over them quiet

place in the cathedral where they know me they trust

me I think of it as sanctuary

the flock

thrush in the morning the same one that

wakes me

now my genius has gone

2010-03-24T03:11:00.000-07:00

the brain in its
skull-like maze
now my genius has gone
it’s difficult to say
describe everything, list everything

lost everything
(want it back)
can’t remember why I’m here
memory caught in a trap
it stiffens

spaghetti maze
fingers thick
disturbed at all times
keep building roads at the end of a whip
people say they know me

I wonder at the puzzle
memory caught in a trap
now my genius is some worthless song
I use a lever a little
and it comes back.

Group
speak poem
12-16 March 2010

be patient

2010-03-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

many patients
aren’t patient
if there’s waiting to be done
take your turn at

patience
nurses can’t give
everyone time
undivided

the vale of years turns
take turns to be patient, wiser
the main answer
what wound healed but by

patience visits
sits quiet with my own thoughts
I call myself
a quiet person

was a dressmaker
if a stitch went wrong
I set it right
in two words, two small words

Margaret Hargreaves

October 2009

my message is to you

2010-03-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

hope is your life
together we
hope
each looks after each
friendly nurses speak
look for
hope is swift exchange
my tablets my routine
hope for this
take pills like new ideas

swallow
hope
I listen to children’s advice
swallow’s wings
get on with life’s hour
accept
strokes hearts bowels propaganda
each other
what journey you’re facing
and what hope

do you get?
(would you like to join our discussion?)
everyone’s lonely in their own
true journey
hope is swift
can’t take it out
can’t shove it away
we’re all
in the end
swallow’s wings.

Group
Cherry Tree
2009

o lovely walls

2010-03-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

seven months sorrow
been seven months
(o lovely walls!) its been hectic
times seven

nurses change the speed

lively nurses
change beds, lives
coming to you bones groan
brain on top spine down the back

I don’t have time for please

change the speed of the day

doing you good
change your window speed
good-doers do-gooders
throw your body puking
sorrow eat my body

nurses change please

anonymous
Stepping Hill
2008

night pains

2010-03-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

I feel tight

feel clempt closed

always thinking trying

nighttime terror couldn’t tell you

a bit of a trouble-ful night

pains

hospital comforts: the beds are alright

the nurses are alright

the specialist said, “I can operate but…”

furious winter is in our stars

all the time many a time

I m always trying to look up

a-wondering what

to think of life itself

a bit of a trouble-ful night

pains

they do damn good work

specialist saved my legs for me

he was practically dancing

hope is a lot of things

group

Cherry Tree

2007

parachute landing in jungle terrain

2010-03-02T04:21:00.000-08:00

I’ve seen me whack
done me jumps
floating down Egypt Cyprus Malaya

that tattoo says in memory of Mitch
killed in Malay jungles
a tattoo that hurt me
I’ve killed and I’m not proud of it
(or they’d kill you
prisoner of war – whatcha gonna do?)

ever tried to pack a parachute?
bloody handfuls
like trying to get a bed into a pillowcase

they won’t let me out of here
told me straight I’m not for getting out
driven to die
very very very very
bored in the brain
so bored it’s ridiculous
bored to the ears

these wards are in lost time

landing in jungle terrain
we laugh
butterflies

what’ll we do after the war?
lost a lot of weight
don’t know if I’ll get a visitor
my wife died and I didn’t go to the funeral
I’d jump
to go as I want
even prisoners are allowed to
walk to the great door

parachute regiment I’d jump tomorrow
you worry til it cracks out
cracks out open and you’re floating

down
down
down

Albert Burrows
Cherry Tree
2007

football

2010-03-01T02:57:00.000-08:00

stanley matthews georgie best nobby stiles sammy much roger byrnes busby babes in packs in a set players 10 or 20 cigarettes on the back their age height history wifeswaps then in germany in munich early morn the takeoff

I do as best I can I do the journey from here to there is no different to any other journey more’s the difficulty is keeping your friends cos you cant get out the wheelchair

known as the munich crash the ground frosted fog photos of them on the runway matt busby sandy busby the son (good at spending money) when they emerged the babes were near unbeatable on £15 a week put edwards on he could cream the lot dog them clobber them sort em out

you cant get out the wheelchair and start getting angry telling the fellow where you want to go well lets say it does make you feel you’re not getting anywhere it’s just a question of administration

stanley matthews turned up at 8 in the morning running barefoot feels free blackpool sands (soak your feet in cold water you’ll walk a million miles) georgie best kidded the goalie banged it a brilliant shot but he done himself in daily brandy-soaked

you feel limited in the weight of this you’re not designing the journey the other person is I was an apprentice pro blackpool fc loved every minute gave back every penny

the footballs were heavier then leather soaked in rain describe a great god the best he was a tippler of everything two or three wives he had so many women over the weekend hundreds seen him train in the park a dangerous man a danger

you’ve got to be determined to stay alive otherwise this world will see you off falling into chaos somebody needs to mop the world up nurse sort the ends out I’m sat in a chair thinking literature I cant express god's fire in the head

re-match: duncan edward he was only 19 in munich on the runway play was awhile ago you’ll hear them you’ll hear them a mile away no problem just a trick of the foot.

Allan Whittaker, Frank Wigley

Cherry Tree Hospital

2007

souvenir

2010-02-26T12:59:00.000-08:00

there are a lot of souvenirs in my head
raining
the water in lines
falling
the gutters
the line going
I remember everything
an older brother
he was running

the river
boots
running through

it was raining and I remember
the planes passing over
making a boom boom boom
I’d sit on the window sill
curtains drawn in case there was a bomb
watched the children through the curtains
on rainy days

head in a fog
frustrating, confusing, annoying

it was raining and I remember the ground
wet and muddy, I had to wear Wellingtons
splash splash splash
through the
raining and I remember
the old ladies couldn’t go out
so grandma and I went to the pub
to get them guinness

your head in a fog
horrible
because you have it in your mind
but what I remember is right

remember playing by the
river and my shoes falling off and being washed
away
(I didn’t get into trouble but the other kids did)
used to love lying in bed
listening to the rain pattering the window

it was raining and I remember I was
a little devil
when I was young, when it was raining
raining in Alexandria
lightening
and then, for a month no rain
then again, rain really bad
looking out through a window
and swimming far
the fruit of the beach
catch it and eat with a spoon
faraway, the fruit
when it was raining it was raining hard
there was lovely fruit
I was mad, I was a devil swimming
taking the fruit from the rock
the fruit from the sea, rezza

raining women’s voices

branches of trees and old tyres
being washed down
even the baby’s dummy
gutters on roofs overflowing
leaves and pieces of soil run down the walls
cats and dogs
want to get inside

what does it feel like to forget?
it can be confusing, frightening
especially if you’re in the rain
like
getting off a bus
when you don’t know where you are

it was raining and I remember
Gene Kelly singing in the rain
in a musical, a great musical
Gene Kelly dancing under an umbrella as he sang
Morecambe and Wise singing
the same
funny, I remember singing at school with the other children
‘rain, rain, go away, come again another day’
raining and sunshining
I remember seeing a rainbow
remember it poured most of this summer
remember splashing the puddles when I was
a child
getting very wet
having to change and
dry in front of the fire.

Fred, Patricia, Yolanda
11 September 2009

Stepping Hill Hospital at Night (after Vosnesensky)

2010-02-25T08:46:00.000-08:00

coughing at night

other breathing at night

people tend

droning to sleep

quietly

nurses’

footsteps

low light faces

the television

an adventure

of dark blue glass

constant

quiet breath engine

in their beds

three or four

calmed

safe

people

moving that’s the thing

I want to hear

people

X-ray photos of the soul

lonely

speak to me with dark tongues

lone

night

yawning

Ralph Starmer and Keith Philips

Stepping Hill

conch

2010-02-24T03:21:00.000-08:00

many a time tea

on blackpool beach

day trips with me dad all the time

when he had time

blowing her nose

an excuse me lost at sea

in winter gardens - indoor gardens

that’s yours my love that music

fox trot waltz

a winter garden

fresh warm

stay the day

conch

it’s just the blood in your head

you can hear it rush

to shut

it’s rough

cough it up

an excuse me

scared the life out of me change the scene

sea rough

a garden a-flower

a tower

a walk many a time

asleep

shells

May Cocker, Rosamund Blackham and Mary Arrandale

Stepping Hill Hospital

Coming into

2010-02-23T02:14:00.000-08:00

Coming into hospital for the fifth time

coming into hospital for the fifth

hate to think of so many times

it’s a desperate thought

I don’t want to think it

get on and forget sadness

get on with it and remember only the

forget

who you’ve been with

where you’ve been you’re not yourself

I’m so glad that they come

I can’t say how often but they do

it’s action for yourself

to see someone

to see some with the same

perhaps the same difficulties

you are not alone

there are many people like you for better or worse

there are many people who like you

good people there are many

friends of myself friends of I

saw

my place

sat in my chair

saw my place sat in my chair

I can see so much from here

I wish

good

I can see I can hear.

Mary Arrandale

Stepping Hill Hospital

a locker

2010-02-22T03:08:00.000-08:00

a locker is a sort of miniature you
haven’t much room on-ship
roll your mattress rope around
hammocks slung sausage-like

these curtain rails carrying

a coiled rope and a heaving line
panic at the dock everyone swearing
doesn’t bother me a cramped situation
eight fathoms for your morning wash

around the beds in the ward

they're a rough bloody outfit
on the frontline
some of the roughest buggers ever
I’ll take you all

remind me of

a good rough house in the pub
was a favourite occupation
thorough gentlemen
below decks

hammock rails

remind: dear me you don’t half meet characters
limbs and bits of heavy engineering
the place exploding
you hit the floor

the clews as they call em

undo them strings beg a kiss
the nurses
stealing sailors’
hatbands for ribbons

Allan Whittaker
Cherry Tree
2007

homemade scones

2010-02-21T06:49:00.000-08:00

my daughter’s getting me somewhere
to live
it wasn’t easy
don’t fight allow it in
they’re looking after me all the time
is

a helpless helper
I see them everyday
feel I’m being looked after
my daughter will be down
one of the most important things
is

Angela Jenkins, Margaret Brown, Mary Murray
Cherry Tree
2009

wheelchair

2010-02-20T08:26:00.000-08:00

walking

an outlook

an outlet

your body don’t dilly dally

does what you tell

marbles on the way to school

for a long way flick it through

play for each others’ cowboys and indians

late at night

in the fields around farms

make dens of

long-seeming summers

in the 1940s

the first

thing is

to keep

little things adding

to a bigger step

on the fringe of farmed fields

bounded by the Mersey

we’d walk over the iron bridge

time working horses

the river a-flooded with ducks and geese

it’s all we had

kids walking the road home

was better frittered

what’s so good about sitting down?

if you’re going

for a walk

get your shoes and

Group

Cherry Tree 2009

wireless

2010-02-18T06:17:00.000-08:00

a couple of operations

the prostrate region (nothing to look forward to)

nothing doing

nothing a lot of pain

look forward to talking to your wife

don’t watch the telly

don’t listen to the wireless

nothing I spose

dropping off to sleep

the fall of a sparrow

you do nothing you’re a nothing

absolute

your best plan is to go

(there he goes, off to the toilet

had a fall)

your outlook is nil

go to sleep don’t blame ya

married 65 years

keep your hand in pleasure

hold

real things

valuable qualities

but what can she do

she can’t look after me

is there anything? nothing?

annoys me this number of ill people

their chances are not good and mine are the same

and one of them shall not fall on the ground without

my wife catches my eye

Anonymous

Cherry Tree

2007

GEORGE III

2010-02-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

PUT THE CLOCKS BACK

it’s a timewarp here shortens the day wakeup wakeup alters everything breakfast-time doesn’t mean anything

SO THEYD WORK ASTRONOMICALLY

your jewelled stars are not allowed cut off from your possessions cant have any treasures only uniforms we are all tea-squeezers the refugee syndrome non-person things

PEOPLE SAID HE’D STOLEN TIME

things might not be worth much but it’s the story behind that gives value each of these people these subjects these things are things you can’t do without

GEORGE WENT MAD

I watch a lot of telly.

Ray West, Freida Brobart, Monica Smith

Cherry Tree 2009

grit

2010-02-16T02:08:00.000-08:00

you first come in you’re sick and that slows you can’t be mithered grit me teeth and bear it grit me teeth and keep me head down

called up 1939 went to France Dunkirk had a bad time a bad time

driven to distraction by all the waste of time getting angry doesn’t help you got to somehow slip into a lower gear get through these long days

in a truck for cover

get up when the nurses start clattering early habit of a lifetime bed late after the noise of the medicine the nurses overworking I’m surprised how cheerful they keep

tried to get in the little boat trousers round my neck and the trousers floated away

if you’ve got a decent book get what exercise you can push this wheelchair up and down

people fighting to get on the boat

that’s one thing I never do – give in

and keep a smile on the faces of the nurses

you’ve got to make your pleasure – is there anything that pleases me? - yes everything - grit me teeth and grin

E Wooley
2008

stages of grief: 1950

2010-02-15T02:45:00.000-08:00

it’s the same a broken heart and physical pain
he died in front of me (talking one minute)
the pain in their face
you feel it
want to do
something and you can’t
the doctors said no

went cold head to toes
and you can’t get warm
when you’ve had a lovely husband
you feel it more

helping people helps
fills a gap fills what’s gone
sorry I never meant
to

break

you can let yourself go
and then you fade
sitting on ice days
not sleeping he died (talking one minute)
fade or you fight it
its always there
1950 as though it was last week as though

you cry alone
there all the time
even when I’m washing
up

a broken heart and physical pain though
everything shut
I put a bolt on the door
said: ‘There is no
good’ and then I was praying
it pulls it pulls
come back at night

come or you just
let your
self
go.

Anonymous
Cherry Tree
2009

diphtheria

2010-02-12T05:24:00.000-08:00

the ambulance bringing
ding a ling a ling

she can remember them ringing
them bells

it was one of the common ones
the cough
a sore throat easily contracted
diphtheria scarlet fever
five years old
the cloth stretching across the wall
my father raised a blade

the ambulance bringing

take swabs
of it the children terrified
isolation hospital
their faces
thought they’d be red
scarlet fever
diphtheria

ding a ling a ling

keeping them apart
lockjaw
didn’t talk
to em too scared
peered through a washroom window
one of the kids saw me said
I won’t tell
remember

them ringing the ambulance bringing
ding a ling a ling

them bells.

Dora Boulton, Frank Bryan, Olive Wilson
Cherry Tree 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

blanket

2010-02-11T08:22:00.000-08:00

I don’t search for pain the grey coarse scientific term dark grey someone else’s pain tufts caught on barbed fences teasing out I wrap myself when I’m cold when it rains the intensity I don’t go searching for pain but as they say its part of life’s richness a fleece that wraps me chemical relief the easement these days the first thing is pills Id rather have a couple of whiskies and a blanket

warmth is part of the healing the most important part the first thing I do is give a hug and a kiss its comfort it has the right texture right feel a woollen blanket in marvellous bed can’t be improved upon I don’t search for pain a cup of tea and a dance what is better than that (a ginormous umbrella) a laugh so don’t worry I never do that’s the vocation

E Wooley and “Wilf”

2007

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

happiness is a cheeky so-and-so

2010-02-10T03:27:00.000-08:00

happiness waking up in the morning
happiness happiness
find happiness in grandkids gladness
they keep you young and one on the way singing

happiness crowds queues laughing
happiness happiness
in your chest happiness overalls
I’ll assist you wrap it all in healing bringing

happiness the glugging sound of
happiness happiness
would you like a cup of
happiness? – the dog just smiled at me

(are we going up the dancers?)

May, Audrey, Edna, Marion
Cherry Tree
2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

today: the garden

2010-01-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

I’m filled with roses

remember
hydrangea

lilac fuchsia
snowdrop bluebells

reawaken
a memory of flowers
water flows around

my brother
I look up to
a stork in the garden

dove water round

remember good times, not the weeding

don’t forget
granddaughter swimming, memories
jigsaw

such good fun in the war
shrapnel
all them bits that were fired up
red hot in a can take it back in a biscuit tin
10 shilling for the lot

Strines Road Marple
walking down
to school

never been back you’ve got to
look forwards
always

to the shelter underground rocks
school from Stockport Cheadle
our bus fare for food
back to the family sons and a daughter

today:
I’m filled with the feeling
being upside down

flowers

dove

water

flows

remember
a number of various
I can remember it all
saying it that’s a different thing.

Victor Richardson, Joyce Knibs, Tom Dolan, Victor Richardson, Dorothy
(+ William Carlos Williams – from Asphodel, That Greeny Flower)
November 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

Auntie Ida

2010-01-04T05:08:00.000-08:00

was kindness itself
well if you were looking at Auntie
you were looking at me

and looking at me you’re looking at her

just like her
she’d take what I’d say
the only one who could give me a hug
and get away with it

vivid in my mind
If we were both having a good day
nobody could say anything to us
nobody could touch us on them days

if we were having a bad day then it was

I’ve had big journeys all my life
stepped off bridges wider than the widest road

the day you feel it coming all that has been the truth:
thoughts of Auntie Ida so vivid
could say that Ida just walked past the window

someone with a coat like Auntie Ida
I’d insist it was
the two of us stood waiting
for Ida to come through
her face
is it like mine?
anxious to see her
picture
a lovely little daisy
if I could express it

Auntie Ida’s just come in
you haven’t got to be frightened of her
on
a miserable Wednesday
I couldn’t describe her on Wednesday
she’d be so down in the world

Wednesday was one of her bad days
if I could throw Wednesday away
I always think something happened that day
a deep loving August day
she’d change into somebody

but for every bad Wednesday
keep it love
Because you’ll be wondering if tomorrow
she'll be flying through the window
like Peter Pan

Ida Regan
Ward A10
4th December 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

that greeny flower

2009-12-18T04:35:00.000-08:00

The Garden, that Greeny flower

with roses

a life filled

Hydrangea

with flowers.

Lilac fuchsia So that

I was cheered

Snowdrop bluebells

reawakened,

Not the weeding

Not the Daffodils

a memory of those flowers

Today:

I’m filled with love

and passion

colours it

while our eyes fill

with tears

So near to people to

Love and greet as friends

I’ve met so many near friends

love, abiding love,

it will be telling

True loyal friends

reawakened,

a memory of those flowers.

Loyalty to send me cards

Get well greetings

A looping flower wisteria

that there were flowers also

True friendships

A pastel shade of blue

Only give me time,

I don’t know what to say

Wisterias they cover

the patio door

Go along

Give me time

Each day

I cannot say

Time to recall them

I cannot help but think back

reawakened,

a memory of playing golf in the afternoon

I have seen it

and so have you

I’m filled with the feeling

being upside down

and retained

a number of various

something of their sweetness

I can remember it all

Silence can be complex

But you do not get far

walking down

walk

with silence.

saying it that’s a different thing

and the will becomes again

reawakened

Joyce, Muriel, Tom and Victor (in response to WCW's Asphodel, That Greeny Flower)

constancy

2009-09-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

hospital

a huge mountain between my

heart and tongue

ill-starred

not important

rubbish

brought here and left

a mountain

if I could pray

prayers would move me

***

been in

(not quite sure, a long time in the firmament)

fed up with constancy

don’t get attention

manage alright at home

it’s not doing me good

and it should

shouldn’t it?

***

some people like being bossed

I have

a man’s will/a woman’s might

must

be careful not

to annoy

to get fed up

fixed and resting

submitting to the saintly routine

***

Fellows in the Firmament!

it is up to you to get right

down to you, getting better

(***

certainly is

***)

to be helpful with those helping you

determination will make a difference

to be very patient

is a difficult art

you’re not born such

constantly

learning

you get old

as the northern star.

Anonymous
11 September 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

the inner part

2009-09-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

in last week and three weeks before

bowel trouble

(nice)

test me kidneys

mind going round

which is what and what is

ignorance last week and three before

toboggans into bowel trouble

embarrassment

that you need

to tell them inner

things

(nice)

ungrateful bowels

heart and me blood test

results

unconvinced

test me test me trudges up

mind going round to ignorance again

anonymous 8th July 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

starcrossd

2009-08-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

what time is it?

it is she may ring by every star

she may not forever now

at home rather know

than feel and fell

pain it’s getting better

lovers tell

my daughter may ring

waiting home and fell waiting

someone came to me

saw me when

I fell

waiting for my daughter

what time is it?

it is she may ring by every star

she may not forever now

Anon
8 July 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

my eyes they view the afternoon (part 2)

2009-08-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

The living day

my eyes they view the afternoon

but when I sleep the floor

try to get up my way

the image shouts

where am I going?

I woke through heavy sleep

in hospital my rest defeat

shadow’s form to ask

everything against your nature

Lynn Holt 1^st July 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

gammy leg

2009-08-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

started out cellulitis

like a rash creams and lotions managed

but you know how it goes

down the leg

on the foot

then they wanted to meet

can’t remember Christmas

my leg

could sit here and cry for eternity

wouldn’t put my leg back

occasionally I forget

roundabouts

going longer between spaces

I have phantom pains

like an itch a weird sensation

I want to scratch my foot

the foot’s not there

try to master mind over matter

can’t scratch phantom pains

sometimes it works

sometimes I still forget

Anonymous 8th July 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

my eyes they view the afternoon (part 1)

2009-08-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

went down and that was it

going to make my Aunt a cup of tea

a cup of tea and went down to the floor

woke in hospital

try to get up

image shouts

where am I going?

different than a normal fall

try to get up , couldn’t shout or anything

don’t remember the brain scan

I woke through heavy sleep

in hospital my rest defeat

cry with aggravation

particularly in the early stages

can’t even get to your own wardrobe

have to ask for everything

shadow’s form to ask

everything against your nature

against your nature

always wanted to do things myself

accepted it more than to begin with

in terrible pain, chronic pain/relief

my eyes they view the afternoon

but when I sleep

get back to my Aunt

I care for and love

only the two of us

a normal quiet life, the living day.

Lynn Holt

1^st July 2009

the old grenadiers

2009-08-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

you’re 96 years

thy image

an old Grenadier

at my age seem to be past doing

but these particulars are not

my measure:

overthrow 3 bad falls

oh the old Grenadiers the servants, the soldier-servants

don’t create alarms

just keep idling away

pain's

red medal round my neck

in defeat

this day I forgot

lay on the floor to the weary night

though new-fangled ill

this old dog’s prouder still

Ron Miles (Curzon) 1^st July 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

Debilitated

2009-08-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

crying
with frustration
why
don't you listen?

pain:
why d'you do this?
sometimes
cry with clenches

get up
from your wheelchair
scream
God-forgotten prayers.

Jean Cheatham 1st July 2009

ever

2009-08-12T00:54:00.000-07:00

a stroke: it’s like freezing a piece of meat

waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting
a cancellation
put me back again
a slight stroke
couldn’t move my arm
so I lift it with the other one
don’t let it lie dead
rub the back of your hand
keep it going

and then it’s un-frozen

waiting and
try to keep moving
haul yourself
with a walking stick
to your exercises
tried, tired and knackered
they train you, so
if you fall in the house by yourself
trapped

but only in part and some remains

waiting and
trying to open the door
try to get to the phone
try to climb a step, up four inches
(one bad leg, two arms, nothing 100%)
terrifying thinking about it
don’t think, try to
get on, to stand

on ice.

Anonymous
24-31 July 2009

the speech therapist

2009-08-07T07:01:00.001-07:00

when my love swears that she's truth

the words come down the wrong half

we can’t - we are – learning unlearned

I do believe her, though I know she lies

in the world's false subtleties
not the half, the other we will learn to speak

although she knows my days are past the best

helpless helpless, paralysed

I credit her false-speaking tongue
it’s coming spent, it’s half through

but wherefore says she is not, she is
hard to describe

therefore I lie with her, and she with me,
it’s half through, we hope it will

BE.

Anonymous

31^st July 2009

come back come back come back

2009-08-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

walking:

a simple question

put it this way

once you’re in these places

they expect you to stay

til you’re better

my own children took to walking straightway

my wife in hospital expecting a child

I walked there four times that day

morning, afternoon, evening

must’ve done 40 miles

now you can’t say I’ve been a lazy person so

far as walking is concerned

put it this way

what changes is you

are seeing four walls day in

out

came here with expectations

put in here, I plunged

to where I am

now

walking:

a simple question, a simple answer

me, wheelchair

lets put it again this way

opportunity is a fine thing

a fine thing is opportunity

a pint and a half of beer a day

my doctor recommended

recommended a little village green

fields, the pub, a walk

dig the allotment

active all my life’s apprenticeship

(walking in the wood at night

by the river way

it’d make a noise like:

come back come back come back

sandpipers

on the side

oh god aye

comes to life that does)

put in here and I’m idle, a passed buck

explain that to me straight

a straight punch

tell the doctors

they will be treated in their late life

like this.

Thomas Weston

31 July 2009

mary/margaret

2009-08-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

illness is change
chance
not accepting
a throw of the dice
I’m OK/you're OK
I'm going to live
you too
will not abolish illness
don’t fight
allow it in
be alright here
they’re looking after heaven's latchkey
looking after all the time
a paradise
will not abolish
see them everyday
angels
angelas
feel looked
down up/on
looked after
one of the most important things
I’m glad
Ive got
pair of dice, we
(mary margaret)
the wings to fly to heaven
well looked after
they’re doing their best
couldn’t wish a better
chance angel

Mary, Margaret
31st July 2009

look around

2009-07-20T04:41:00.000-07:00

look around and
see the dust
the atmosphere
its
there

anon
2009

Made in collaboration with arthur+martha guest artist Anneke Kuipers.

shut in now

2009-07-17T03:35:00.000-07:00

shut in now
to feel free
just want to jump
in

anon
2009

Made in collaboration with arthur+martha guest artist Anneke Kuipers.

more freedom

2009-07-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

you have to
hope for a
quick recovery
so you can go home
more freedom when you are
away hospitals are very good
but they have to have a
limit for what patient can do
hospitals are
very good
they do their best

anon
recycled postcard, pen, glue
2009

Made in collaboration with arthur+martha guest artist Anneke Kuipers.

look round

2009-07-09T02:32:00.000-07:00

look round and
see the dust
the atmosphere -
its
there

anon 2009
Cherry Tree Hospital

my wedding

2009-07-07T02:07:00.000-07:00

my wedding
my engagement
my eternity

evidence bag, pen, metal thread
Hilda Hewitt
2008

rings together

2009-07-06T04:02:00.000-07:00

what have you
done in our
lifetime being
rings together

evidence bag, paper, pen
Harry Wantling
2008

don't join the navy

2009-07-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

tennis player
Allen
don't join the navy
its too rough

children's sock, luggage tag, pencil
(part of the 'pictures emphasising stillness' collection http://www.arthur-and-martha.co.uk/pages/objects.htm)
Allen Whitaker
2007

arthritis

2009-07-02T03:12:00.000-07:00

my arthritis
I get my realistic details
at all times

Ron Miles (Curzon)
1st July 2009

Thomas

2009-07-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

'couldn't call anyone brave
or not brave'

Thomas Weston
1st July 2009

These are gardens

2009-06-30T03:05:00.000-07:00

'These are gardens, landscapes on a human scale'

These are gardens, from the collection 'Our needs are very small' a series of Ltd edition postcard size photo/poems from our archive. They show the view from older people’s hospital beds, wheelchairs, or their accommodation in residential housing. These photos were taken by the participants themselves, or else directed by them. Their words were selected from conversations with each participant – offering sidelong, poetic views on how it feels to be in a care environment.

the jargon

2009-06-26T02:16:00.001-07:00

the jargon

terminology:
I’m registered blind
others like the words visually impaired
some prefer totally blind
the word blind is very final
people appear frightened of saying I’m blind
get embarrassed by words
but I’ve always faced it: blind
blind
blind
it’s not written on the face, but its part of life
there are occasions when trauma gets you
an old lady shouting across the road
is he blind?
people asking questions about you, talking over you
(I’m bloody blind, not deaf)
I can see a little, but not much
blurred, mist

a
word between
blind and stone blind
we’re all different love
you haven’t enough paper to write it all
everyone has individuality
if you term yourself disabled
people label you
disabled to the average person
means:
nasty terms, offensive
we are disabled by society
certain government departments
things done down on Mercy Street
(more people are kind
than obnoxious)

visually impaired
a catch-all
some boys came and kicked
the stick out of my hand and said
now go look for it
unacceptable words
not-PC
spastic mongol
it’s always interested me, the words
I am totally blind and
a spade’s a spade
an indicator cane
a symbol cane
a guide cane
a long cane
measure it from your foot to your breastbone
tap to either side or sweep
don’t trip your guide up
a cane with red and white stripes will tell you
the person carrying it is
blind and deaf
too

each one of us around this table
has our own opinion
was blind but now I see
blindness is used as a metaphor
glare and brightness
tinted glasses
the problem with language altogether
is the idea that language can describe perfectly
it’s merely pointing at some idea
just as blindness means absence of light
and darkness is scary
language is a difficult thing
and you are not being 100 percent scientific
when you use
blind
the harbinger
of terrible things
blind beggar pew always bringing
the black spot
language

born blind
I went to the sunshine homes
went to boarding schools for the blind
I’m one of the few who can read Braille
colours mix with words for me
anger with red traffic lights
biggest problem with vision is
it’s so personal you can’t describe
what you can see and what you can’t
I don’t get any older
in the shaving mirror

somedays
wake up, feel depressed
stop feeling sorry for yourself
see a pin drop
there’s always someone worse off
see them kiddies in hospital
go through a grieving
lost vision
lost independence
grieving
some go through it a long time
the bitter twist
it fills a void
we are all learning
talking heads
that’s what we do
loss of eyesight is a great leveller
all the
way round

how small my disability is:
blind from the foot
to the top of the breastbone

how much can you see?

speak poem
June 2009

to try

2009-06-25T01:51:00.000-07:00

to try

if you can get home I’ll be ok
can’t do it yet
takes time
hard
it’s hard
connection to outside
(I’m on my own back home)
to
try and take it easy
to try and do it yourself
my daughter she’s hurting
crying
got to do it in your own time
do it
she’s trying but hurting; at times
it hurts but you have to do it yourself
got to try
don’t cry
cancer 17 years ago
(consultant)
keeps saying there’s something there
try to tell him - there’s nothing
she was crying
don’t cry
don’t cry
doesn’t hurt
there’s something there
but it doesn’t hurt
its there, it won’t go
but I’m better
breast cancer
they’re hurting
they’re all hurting
the mastectomy
I don’t let it hurt me
I’m not going to die
not yet
not yet
I’ll just fuzzle it up
It’s there even at night
don’t let it
hurt you
let it go
let it go
something there, but let it go
nothing
this breast fine
it’s only that one
don’t get upset
don’t get upset
it doesn’t help
doesn’t help
takes time but you get better
eventually
cry at night
but I don’t show it
don’t let them see it
don’t show it
keep it to me
I know it’s there

Mary Mitchell
June 2009

Dante

2009-06-24T04:23:00.000-07:00

Dante

I’m a patient in Stepping Hill
Where doctors are supposed to make you well
Unfortunately I have found
That it has been a source of hell.

Ray West
11 June 2009

importance

2009-06-22T02:37:00.000-07:00

importance

a box of chocolates
a little boy running back
down the ward
to say goodbye to grandfather
remembrance

(in here it’s)

waiting, all this waiting
captured, a refugee, loss of furniture, loss of house
you can’t make a bed a home
I don’t want to be unconscious
in their presence

(in here it’s nice)

hallucinations come with the pills
enjoy them, visitors are medicine
taking the mind to some other place
if you don’t have a dream
you’ll never have a dream come true

(in here, it’s nice a little)

uncertainty is my home
a lost person, a dispossessed person
you don’t feel the bed is yours
I’m interested in life
I’m having to change my life

(in here it’s nice, a little bit, but)

waiting to die it seems
spend the day getting the button right
getting the zip right
learning to
walk

Raymond West and Mary Mitchell
11 June 2009

overcome

2009-06-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

overcome

Parkinson’s (face it)
face it, get involved, take part
in sports: the adrenalin temporarily
overcomes the Parkinson’s

(face it)
don’t take the pills as gospel
at 1am in the morning
you can be flexible

get a consultant who knows
about Parkinson’s (the bad doctors
do damage)
when I got diagnosed

I dropped out into sulks
refused meals
then decided
this was a waste (face it)

have a bout with life
live to the full
with
an incurable disease.

Ray West
11 June 2009

no hassle medicine

2009-06-17T02:34:00.001-07:00

two tranquillisers
that’s what they say they are
a no hassle medicine

put them in my mouth and swallow
swallow them and hope for the best

Gladys Hall
2008

This poem is part of the 'Patience' collection, for more information on this project please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

shut in now

2009-06-16T01:52:00.000-07:00

shut in now
to feel free
just want to jump in

anon
Cherry Tree Hospital 2009

curtailed

2009-06-12T02:48:00.000-07:00

curtailed
spring starts its inspiration
we are locked up in hospital
we are cooped up canaries in submarines
people go potty in submarines
lack of green

we are Birdman of Alcatraz
we are four square walls
looking out over the bay
watching others’ enjoyment
(me, I’m keen on the birds)

trees ring a hospital, an industrial estate
we are dead loss
green is the motivator to go
stifled in a wheelchair
raise your sight, your expectation

hides
behind
wrap us all in cotton wool
like the brontes we must
break out of the parsonage

we are pyjamas all day
we are institutional
lack of freedom to choose, lack of freedom
to choose - when you’ve lost choice
you’ve lost.

Raymond West
11 June 2009

Photo of Raymond West copyright Lois Blackburn. for more photos please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthur-and-martha/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthur-and-martha/sets/72157607699825490/

With your children

2009-06-11T01:46:00.000-07:00

with your children on your shoulders
here we go again

Hilda Hewitt
2008

Part of the Brackenhurst Series.

The Trees

2009-06-10T03:02:00.000-07:00

The trees are in their Autumn beauty
someone is thinking of you.

Rennie Venus
2008

Part of the Brackenhurst collection

And for the peace of you

2009-06-09T02:05:00.000-07:00

And for the peace of you I hold such strife
now counting best to be with you alone
sometime all full with feasting on your sight
then do I pine and surfeit day by day

Hilda Hewitt and Rennie Venus
2008

Make Summers Welcome

2009-06-06T05:24:00.000-07:00

Make summers welcome, thrice more wish'd, more rare.

Shakespeare, re-written
David 2008

Brackenhurst series, postcards kindly provided by Sam French

many thing

2009-06-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

I know full well we’ll never leave this place
there’s a law in chemistry that says
you can never create or destroy matter, no matter
if they cremate or bury – your remains
will become part of the strata of the rains
and winds will blow you across
the face of the agnostic earth
you the atoms cannot be destroyed
will be here doubting Thomas for millions of years

perhaps we are all the figment of someone

don’t need to dig down if you
drop by a graveyard
the bacteria come up to become
more stars in the sky than there are
grains of sand in the
oceans are not burning
me it’s an overcoat for your spirit:
do I believe in anything, do
I believe in many things?

(I never go to bed ‘til I’ve said me prayers at night:
whisper that)

David Smith, Harry Wantling, Phyllis Hollinshead, Hilda Hewitt
2007

want my bed

2009-06-03T01:51:00.001-07:00

in cagelike beds, in my white cage

smoky as if it isn’t there
blood rushes from head roses
a heavy smell, heavy breathing
a smell you’d want again
would’ve thought roses

figures floating friendly trying
don’t want them, not highly

in my cage, in cagelike beds

high pale blue walls
some glass affair
inspired torture racks
see it different ways but
the same figures going round
waiting for it to crash.

Maude Counter and Muriel Hardman
2007

photo/poem 'Half Asleep' Allen Whittaker 2007 for more photo poems, please visit our portfolio site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthur-and-martha/sets/72157607699825490/

intake

2009-06-02T02:45:00.000-07:00

1947: nothing more unusual than
coming home
fitted with civvy suit, shoes, raincoat and shirt
searching for something
I’d left
people were the same
culture was different
sit down for a meal at 6 or 7
still there 10 or 11

so different
so
life was easy
work finished for the day and well
tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow
too, a life varied of its own
not-organized army

everyone having such a good time
never saw a war
not many people saw what
I SAW THE JAWS OF HELL
never so much noise, explosions

then it cleared and
the birds came
and
sang

Patrick Lannon
25th May 2007

Labelled children socks, created by Patrick Lannon in collaboration with arthur+martha 2007.

Of Note

2009-06-01T01:59:00.000-07:00

of note

have you been back
where you used to go?
to the old part of town
a drawer full of
dark

clothes, flat dancing shoes, fate
got so many wrinkles I can
screw my own knickers on
what I remember is
history

saw the Mayflower
coming in here on a Friday
I have memories of long washing lines
stretch from one place to
another

field: it’s good to be put on earth
money doesn’t come into it
learning to slow down: a hard lesson
working in kitchens of
stone

I’ve not composed any music
nothing of note
what have you and I done
except the pas de
double?

Phyllis Hollinshead, Harry and Beaty Wantling, Hilda Hewitt, Bob Mather
2007

For more examples from our project 'Patience' please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

SUCCESSFUL AGEING

"...there is ample evidence that many elderly people
regard themselves as happy and well, even in the presence
of disease or disability. Doctors should be aware
that many elderly people consider themselves to have
aged successfully, whereas classifications based on
traditional medical models do not..."

(From What is successful Ageing and who should define it? by Ann Bowling and Paul Dieppe, British Medical Journal 2006)

weblinks http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/1559/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging

Recovery

2009-05-29T01:29:00.000-07:00

RECOVERY
thistle in may

Take your medication strictly as prescribed

better than feeling ill: flowers
things to look forward to
snowdrops, daffodils dancing
meet your friends again, crocuses beginning
when a person starts to be well
trees take a spring interest
life’s worth living, the sky blooms lighter
altogether more day, always glad
when the February war is over
it wasn’t a bit charming summer’s on its way
in the distance

Continue with any exercises shown to you in hospital by therapists or medical staff

got rheumatism and going blind?
start to throw your woollies off
if there’s any snow left
throw welcome snowballs
keep getting well
english weather do your best
unreliable wet cold miserable
if winter’s here
spring cant be far behind
have to wait and see
‘what the hell’s happened to me?’
that rush towards the remember

Don't remove any dressings until instructed

it’s a slow process all the flowers
waking up caution restricts
the tulip field
no speed records broken
snowdrops the first
birds and buds
the worst thing is to rely on others
the trees blessing daffodils
the light, a relief
a relief (the darling)
it comes slowly
birds come alive, start taking notice
everything again tweeting the dawn
outside your window the spring marvels
trees flower views
springcleaning comes to mind at
the mere sight
passover the shade
the fantastic cobweb

If you are unsure of any factor relating to your convalescence, don't hesitate to contact your doctor

pour with light through the body
you squirm god I’m coming to life
the excitement: seize the sun
the sky-blue, the buttercups
bulbs looking for light
take your part in the human race

Attend all your check-ups

cut a thistle in may
the dancing season has started
fabulous is the word for it
lots of little flowers pink and jump
lamb pasture
cut it in june itll be back soon
blooms as big as cabbageheads

(Follow all dietary recommendations)

jump for joy after drear winter
get on with things
where are we
going?
it is so rewarding to fill a bare patch
with dancing.

speak poem
Feb 2009

Further info, from Better Health Channel website, Victorian Department of Human Services, Australia
During convalescence, it may be beneficial to set goals for each day which will aid in your recovery. Be guided by your doctor, but general suggestions include:

* Too much bed rest in most cases isn't good for you, particularly if you are elderly. Maintain some level of activity, even if it means just sitting or standing up occasionally. Try getting dressed and moving around the house if possible.
* Ensure your muscles, heart and lungs are working efficiently by gradually increasing your level of activity each day.
* Make sure you get enough rest. Listen to your body and alternate periods of activity with periods of relaxation. Be prepared to say 'no' to things you can't cope with and visitors you don't want to see.
*Keep in touch with family and friends and maintain your social activity, even by telephone.
* Eat a healthy diet that includes plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. If your appetite is poor, try eating small amounts of nutritious foods regularly. Remember that eating well is more important than eating more.
* As your strength returns, find time to do things you enjoy. Keep up with hobbies and aim to get out of the house regularly, even for short outings.

Everyone has the right to be remembered

2009-05-27T02:42:00.000-07:00

you have
more freedom when
you are away
but

the nurses put a limit

the atmosphere every year in
Wales Rhyll Llandudno or the Algarve
the pleasure to stop and go
a wideopen space, a beachfront
the smell is held
contained by things that are a pleasure
to eat doughnuts are sweet
pleasure constantly

cant look after myself proper

constantly seabirds on the headland
suspect or suggest the memory of places
a tram or a train from base to top
do and say what you want
a change of scenery

you’ve got to have someone to help
control

tremors
two shakes of a lambs tail to get to Llandudno
to get away to get home
you look around and see dust
look back and think I was doing such a thing
donkeys years in holiday camps
in tents men on one side women the other
the bane of my wife’s desire
the cheese was very

hard pleasure of these idle days

conversation poem
cherry tree hospital 2009

2009-05-26T03:41:00.000-07:00

And for the peace of you I hold such strife
Now counting best to be with you alone
sometime all full with feasting on your sight
then do I pine and surfeit day by day

anon
2008

The Giant City Awakes

2009-05-24T05:38:00.000-07:00

The giant city awakes but
I am going down the pan
I have lied and cheated
my way through life
truth breaks through

anon 2008

descant

2009-05-23T02:40:00.000-07:00

find it
very noisy all the time too
much for me

different atmospheres
atom
spheres
this breathing world
different wards give and take
we rely on each other
institutionalised

there’s going to be needles

they’re kind but
haven’t a lot of time
if somebody gives a bit of hello
gets the day going on nicer

don’t like noise too much
during my stay there’s been a record on
day and night
can’t get it out of my head
hear it almost constantly
nobody else seems to be able to
hear it

only me
hear it almost constantly confuses
me it does confuse me
daytime and night-time
you take me home

there’s going to be needles

one thing leads to another with people
they’re all a little tale to tell
they’re lonely
time that’s the stumble-block
do a little chitchat in between
time
it brings things on a bit

Grace Smith/Mavis Skillington
2008

a pox of this

2009-05-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

gout is a condition that causes pain, inflammation and swelling in one or more of the joints. It usually affects the big toe, but can develop in any joint in

in here about four weeks
terrible state I was
knees useless
getting out of bed
wife standing by
couldn’t stop me flying
get paramedics
help me to stand
gentle s-l-i-d-e to the floor
didn’t bother me
knew I’d get up one day
wife not strong enough
(amazing how strong she is)
she was calm

often occurs in attacks that usually last for three to 10 days, after which the joint should feel normal and pain-free again. The attacks are almost impossible to predict and, if

‘if you go down
…’

just slide
gout inflammation of the blood
into the legs
try to pump them out
put a tube down the leg
and suck on it
not painful

not treated, can cause future attacks to be more frequent and last for longer

lack of power
most difficult getting to
the toilet
a gout of this pox

Gerald Manley
/Shakespeare/NHS Choices website
31st October 2008

A Robin Red Breast

2009-05-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

A robin red breast
in a cage

Harry Wantling
2008

part of the Brackenhurst Collection

In Profuse Strains

2009-05-21T03:05:00.000-07:00

In profuse strains of unpremeditated art
these things don't leave you because you are young and very impressionable
(because they are so unexpected)

anon
2008
part of the Brackenhurst Collection.

I will arise and go now

2009-05-20T02:18:00.000-07:00

I will arise and go now, And go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and
wattles made:
I would enjoy myself much more if
you were able to join me. So the next
time you have this precious commodity perhaps
it can be arranged.

anon
2008

From the poem/postcard series Brackenhurst

The Trees

2009-05-19T02:27:00.000-07:00

The trees are in their Autumn beauty
someone is thinking of you.

Rennie Venus
2008

Part of the Brackenhurst Collection.

skint-send cheque

2009-05-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

part of the Brackenhurst series, postcards kindly provided by Sam French

Harry Wantling
2008