On Tuesday 28th February, it was time for the ‘Love & Hate’ edition of Poetic Insight, bringing together more special young talent who made their voices heard
through poetry and spoken word.
It was a beautiful night, filled with sultry sayings, emotional expressions and wonderful words. Different ideals of love or hate,
sometimes love and hate combined. Everyone brought a different element to the evening, especially the first time performers, who we welcome with open arms to Poetic Insight. Most of all though, love filled the room as we all supported each other.
The night would not have been possible without Mr Grimez, Sh’kira, Rhianna, Emili, Josephine, Jeffery, Tony, Abigail, Nyasha, Jennelle and Melvis. They were all amazing and I’m so thankful to them for performing.
However, a few days later, I got inspired by the word hate myself, as I found myself reading about a case of injustice that brought home why I hate injustice all over again. I was driven to write a poem, which I would like to share with you:
Words cannot express how much I hate injustice,
Words cannot express how much I despise cruelty,
How much it makes my blood boil;
Words cannot express,
Instead my body manifests;
Lips twitching,
Fists clenching,
Head shaking,
Heart racing,
Eyes spilling
With salty tears.
Forced to face
A human race
Turning into feral, savage creatures,
Forced to watch a system
Crumbling,
Failing,
Almost broken beyond repair.
Notice I said almost,
Because there’s still good out there,
Something can be done;
Let’s make our voices heard,
Create ripples of change,
Flip the bird
To those saying we can’t;
Cos we can’t let injustice persist,
Cruelty endure
And those in authority
Abuse power as they wish.
No more banning immigrants,
Killing black men,
Wrongly incarcerating youths of colour;
Forcing life-changing decisions on us,
Judging by race or gender,
Hating the unfamiliar.
We’re human beings,
We should be better than this,
Fighting for the good of each other;
Spreading love,
Re-igniting hope,
Righting wrongs of the past
For our present and future.
The next Poetic Insight will be on March 28th. This time around, there is no theme, so let your creative juices flow and feel free to speak your mind on anything you want. If you want to perform, email me at shaniquab29@yahoo.co.uk
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