We recently lent lots of objects from our handling collection to Juley Simmonds for a display at Clarendon College as past of their summer event and History of Clarendon Expo. The event was opened by the Mayor of Trowbridge, Councillor John Knight. have a look at the pictures.

Here are some short poems written by Peter o’Grady and Nicola Krikorian whilst they took part in Josy’s fantastic poetry workshops. Read Peter’s Poems and Nicola’s Poems here.

Liz, who came to the final poetry workshop on 21st March, sent in this poem which presents an Iranian life from two differing viewpoints.

Poems produced during Josephine Corcoran’s workshop on 1st March 2012

Onion
Crackly, papery skin
Unwrap it at your peril
For there lies within
A gaseous miasma
That will catch at your throat, clog your nose, redden your eyes
And when you cut deep you’ll find
Whether you want to or not
You are weeping over the death of your onion.

Katherine White 2012

How happiness begins…
Settled into a forward-facing seat,
Not reserved, window and plug to hand.
Headphones on, paper laid out,
A fold down tray.
Freshly bought magazines ready to be thumbed through.

How happiness begins…
Work finished and the sofa reached,
Wine glass in hand, maybe sherry, whiskey later to finish,
An evening stretching ahead, Friday,
Nothing worth watching, but it doesn’t matter.

David Birks 2012

Cone
I hold a spiral stairway, mounting upwards, shrinking inwards,
Courageously aspiring to happiness,
Beauty in the integrity of its form.
The stairway rises, narrows, thins
To an infinite tiny point,
An eruption of brilliance,
Opening trustingly on the empty air.

Katherine White 2012

Whiskey
Firing up and stirring the blood,
Charging through the body,
Losing inhibitions after two, three, four drams.
Savouring the clink if ink blocks,
Melting slowly and subsiding,
Diluting.
The heat burns the uninitiated,
Never again they say,
But aye, another swift glass to warm the cockles.

David Birks 2012

How easily happiness begins…
When I smell that perfume
Like a blinding flash of light
The memories erupt
Whipping me through space and time
In a vortex of wonder,
Back to the simplicity of my teenage years
Back to the days of no responsibility
The hedonistic summers of picnics and playfulness
The new experiences, fashions, sounds,
The fresh-born soul,
The core of being building up, full of optimism
Not yet dulled by life’s misfortune.

Katherine White 2012

Kitchen To Do List
Changes the light switch
It sticks.
Paint the tall narrow end wall,
A third coat.
Countersink the screw holes,
In the ceiling plank.
Grout the tiles to fill in the gaps,
Hide all the spacers.
Chip off the excess tile cement on the floor,
Use the cold chisel carefully.
Paint behind the radiator,
Use a roller. 
Still more to be done,

Will it ever end?

David Birks 2012

Cocoa
Jump in and take the Incredible Journey through a spiraling galaxy,
Back to the fury of the Big Bang.
Or plunge dizzily into the tornado torrents
Of a black hole, sucked up in sweetness,
Crushed to nothingness.
Stirring, circling darkness, patterned with frothy stars,
A chocolate universe,
Bursting with bubbles,
Spinning you off to sleepy oblivion.