Community of Communities Creative Competition

And I cried

Marnie Wenman from Ashburn Community

2nd Place

THINGS I KNOW

I know it hurts to cut yourself but people do it because

pain and stress gets less in the release of blood.

I know around Brixton, Water Lane is not a good place to walk at night.

I know that being in a crowd in a city can feel like you're in a tiny box marked claustrophobic, where you're an ant who can get stepped on.

I know here it's peaceful, I don't hear sirens.

I know that keep-change-flip

can help divide fractions.

I know trees breathe out carbon dioxide and without them we'd die.

I know the world is meant to be

our oyster but that sharks swim in clusters everywhere,

as do piranhas in suits.

I know life is hard and challenging, but if you get over the hurdles, you can achieve anything,

cos what are hurdles if not something we're meant to jump?

Billie-Jo F, from Lawrence House

3rd Place

  If I could catch a rainbow I would do it just for you,

And share with you it’s beauty on the day you’re feeling blue.

If I could build a mountain you could call your very own

A place to fine serenity, a place to be alone.

If I could take your troubles I would toss them in the sea

But all these things I’m finding, are impossible for me,

I cannot build a mountain nor catch a rainbow fair, but let me be what I know best,

A friend who’s always there.

Hope, from Hopedale House

4th Place

Belonging is like finding the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

Eventually finding a place where I fit in.

Longing for people accept me for who am

Overwhelming feeling of care and support with no judgement

Noticing I have something to contribute; ideas, emotions, knowledge

Gaining a feeling of inclusion

In belonging comes freedom, independence to grow

Now I can be myself, no longer on the outside, lively, bubbly and eager to join in.

Gone are the layers of depression, to be replaced with a warm blanket of safety and security.

Kayleigh S, from Channels and Choices

Joint 5th Place, #1

Hold The Line

Something there is about the deep drum roll of distant thunder that says,

Do not take things for granted,

Just listen to the whisper of the breeze through high borne leaves,

And wonder,

Where a change might come,

As the early crescent moon summons the Pipistrel,

To play and feed down lanes of fragrant elderflower strolls,

Hold the line, for now.

No reason there is to doubt the tumbling, swirling curlew call that says,

I know you’re there, and sometimes life is not fair,

So do not take things for granted,

For change will come when there is still work to be done, as the soft lines of a summer night,

Bathe the hills,

With blue gentle flame and magical iris streams,

Hold the line, for now.

Everything there is to know about not turning back too soon that says,

Give it time to feel the change, and be prepared,

Never to take anything for granted,

Reach out to touch and taste the silent shades of pain, make the transition to forgive and let go,

Try not to be afraid,

To weep, to smile, to say how it feels,

And hold the line.

Jon Sawdon, from HMP Gartree

Joint 5th Place, #2

Therapy is like a Sat-Nav,

I believe we can choose for our ultimate destination,

One of 2 options,

Therapy gives us free will to decide,

If we choose therapy,

It gives us the route to get there,

If we stray off track,

TC recalculates and directs us back to where we are at,

TC keeps recalculating and recalculating however often we stray,

We can choose to take the quick and easiest option, quit, or run away,

Or we can choose to take long, painful and costly detours,

The choice is yours,

Even after we have made a decision,

To follow the TC path and we stray off track,

People will be available to push you right back,

The best destination is an obvious choice,

This is an ongoing journey,

Long and hard, not a motorway with exits.

You can can’t come and go when you please and you can’t hide,

This is an individual choice,

That you yourself have to make,

So good luck in your future and the work that lies ahead,

I’m off to set my sat-nav then I’m off to bed

Graham Gibson, from HMP Dovegate Endeavour