Poetry, does it save only the person writing it?
Words may stand the test of time, while others come back to haunt us, be they spoken by ourselves or one another. There is always space for sadness, seriousness, for the sombre. But life is never one thing, and so, neither shall this project be.
Show up for yourself first, by writing poems. Then, as a blend of people, let us show the world what this United Kingdom is truly made of… us.
We will publish the poetry of The People, gladly, humbly, and in good faith. We begin by exploring our own Celtic roots, please do feel free to explore your own lineage via the written word, your pain, your freedoms, your stories…
Our poets do not lament over a past long forgotten, prose preserved do not pause over a painful past, unexpected to repeat itself. Let us remember, always, lest we forget.
Long ago, one of us sat among a group of Londoners, among the group was a black-skinned beauty, a babe really. The two sat, laughed and drunk rum among a medley of nationalities until 6am. During those hours, this young Englishwoman remarked something that amounted to, ‘Yeah, well, try having a dad from Africa and a mum from The Caribbean! I’ve told them, I don’t want to sit and feel angry about their history, their stories aren’t mine!’ We are a blending of time now, forget colour, we are a blending of time, yet no story died, all are very much still alive to those that hold them in both body and mind.
The United Kingdom holds many stories because it is home to many people, our poet, A. M. Santuario, connected to her own roots with the poems published below. But do not fret, we are more than aware that these are not the only stories that belong to this beautiful nation of ‘same, same, but different’, to this beautiful nation of human beings:
Our first poetic anthology, born of heritage, Celtic Reimagining...
Soon, we will welcome additional poetic anthologies, to be titled by the people who lived the stories. May creative autonomy belong to those the stories belong to. Ana Maria Santuario simply presents these poems for inspiration today. She was born of Scottish and Northern Irish blood, but was born bloody English, she will also die English. Don’t blame her for it, okay?
Celtic Remastering.
Born of Celtic blood,
In bone marrow borrowed,
We live on.
Through time we travel the way,
The song to a soul,
Feasting on freedom,
On wild wilderness belonging.
Of moon we are apart,
Yet part of.
Of sun we rise and are reborn.
In freedom of thought we claim it,
Those freedoms,
Of past begone.
Unite, and Fight!
You cannot leave me,
Ancestors of my ancestors.
Do not abandon me here,
In merry ol’England.
You run in my blood,
Heather and dew.
You are my blood,
In me, don’t you see you?
The Why.
Between us, there is a thread,
Of bare rooted lineage.
I do this, for the dead.
Beasts, begone!
In war, we CREATE losses.
In survival,
We claim the power of one word,
Together.
In together,
Might we seek peace,
As the resolution,
To all evil?
Woven Into One, by Time.
The flag is binding,
Withstands the stories,
Woven threadbare by time.
The flag is binding.
Bro, it’s 2025!
The world is a huge place,
Let’s be safe together.
Don’t abandon your kin,
To the bloody English.
#jk #jk
We are English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh,
Among other destinies of descent today.
Plans aren’t dreams, neither are poems… dream first…
Recalling the young black beauty mentioned above, we propose only a few poetic anthology groupings. These are not titles, they set us up for demographic ponderance, with a few legit reasons offered as to why:
- When that young lady commented on the pull of cultures afar, in opposite continental directions no less, experienced daily in mirror of mother, father, grandparent too perhaps, one might ponder how one becomes a blending of three powerful cultures (UKian also). There is no clash in one woman, only stories held in psyche, in memory, in reimagining. How about a book juxtaposing the power of The African Continent and our Atlantic American neighbours, be they North or South? A continental dwelling of pen and rhetoric, of pain and love?
- I recall an online poetry workshop, 6 weeks spent in the company of women, spent spinning words. Festival and Food, I think it was the anchoring theme. Or perhaps it was scent… the workshop theme. We will work around those too, central themes.
- Celtic Reimagining – This anthology welcomes The Pagans too, or perhaps those two words, The Pagans, birth a fourth anthology? Have fun, it’s the general vibe of the project, cool?
These are simply examples of potential starting points. There are no limits. Community, this project is all about community, and poetry. Mark these publications as shows of tradition, family, heritage, ancestry.
