Unthought
Once walked is it completed?
A small train on a small track.
Only now, only thought
Once thought is it all here, real, now?
Always one more step.
And step. And pain.
Once spoken is it all said?
All playful and joyful.
All full, all full
Where are the things we can’t think of?
Heidi Colthup
© Heidi Colthup, 2008. Poetry on the Buses: A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent. To find out more and read the full series, visit www.kent.ac.uk/poetryonthebuses
A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent l www.kent.ac.uk
Unravelling the Labyrinth
As the mute vein under my feet
unravelled its tangle, I reached the
heart’s edge where I knew: I must fly or
fall. No red thread pulled me back
when air shrouded my body and gravity
faded like a bruise.
What blood was spilled was due to be
dust; life lies under my skin still, waxing
thick with words yet to come. Free now
and weightless, I stare at the faraway
sky – or is it the ground, those floating
stones around me birds?
Emmi Itaranta
© Emmi Itaranta, 2008. Poetry on the Buses: A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent. To find out more and read the full series, visit www.kent.ac.uk/poetryonthebuses
A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent l www.kent.ac.uk
‘So glad at last to be here in the heart of it…’
So glad at last to be here in the heart of it – the
very hub now everything is slow and mellow
and the low soft rustle of sweet relief.
Here I can recline and be my own sweet kiss
and allow a breath to last a whole lifetime.
Why is it never quiet like this for me anywhere else?
My god why is my head such a loud place
undisturbed by the noise, the sweet soft noise
of nothing at all?
M Smith
Now I may tread on grass stained feet.
A thousand thousand years of trying to find the path.
© M Smith, 2008. Poetry on the Buses: A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent. To find out more and read the full series, visit www.kent.ac.uk/poetryonthebuses
A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent l www.kent.ac.uk
Labyrinth
1 Should you stop to reflect,
point your foot where you want to go
next, lest you forget
3 Spilled entrails coiled
like a sleeping boa constrictor
seem to draw us in
5 Will we recognise
the route home or will it be
a surprising journey
2 How many people
have walked this sinuous pathway
yet never left a trace
4 This is thirsty work.
I would really like to know
how far I have travelled
6 The canvas is spread like a big top
before the circus begins
what acts of daring will be witnessed here
© Jen Kahawatte, 2008. Poetry on the Buses: A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent. To find out more and read the full series, visit www.kent.ac.uk/poetryonthebuses
A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent l www.kent.ac.uk
7 Not meant to trick or deceive
and yet we feel
that we are almost there immediately
then realise
that is far from the truth
Jen Kahawatte
Labyrinth
How long and slow the journey seems towards
the heart of the matter, so hard to convey what
concerns me, and make you care about it too;
a sweeping rainbow of grace accidentally achieved,
glimmers of confidence shine through afternoon tears;
even the critics may applaud today.
moments of insight hover beside the path,
then suddenly a glorious free-flow arc appears,
the short yet difficult ascent turns into
The nearer we approach the truth the more
we are distanced from reality, until
with a final twist we arrive at the place we sought,
though the route is not the one we planned at first
and the way, though glimpsed, would never be direct.
Clare Dawes
© Clare Dawes, 2008. Poetry on the Buses: A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent. To find out more and read the full series, visit www.kent.ac.uk/poetryonthebuses
A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent l www.kent.ac.uk
How to walk a Labyrinth
1 Like everything else in life, there is one path which leads to an
ocean of corridors. Do not be afraid to step on to the
boulevard. It is natural to be frightened for many of us refrain
from walking, unsure of where the trail might take us.
2 In each of our minds there exists a jungle of avenues –
it always leads to one place. Keep walking: left, right, straight,
turn, until you find it.
3 In the labyrinth there is a clock. It clicks loudly. Do not count
the seconds of every minute of every hour: this leads to days
to weeks to months to years, spent on counting.
4 Life is a bleak transit room. You either walk or wait or walk and
then wait. When you choose to walk, do not count your
footsteps.
Abigail El-Bekai
© Abigail El-Bekai, 2008. Poetry on the Buses: A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent. To find out more and read the full series, visit www.kent.ac.uk/poetryonthebuses
A Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Kent l www.kent.ac.uk