Good Books by Edgar Guest

Good Books by Edgar Guest

by | Jan 20, 2025 | Book Poems, Books, Poetic Flows Podcast, Poetry, Reading Poems

Good Books
by
Edgar Guest

Good books are friendly things to own.
If you are busy they will wait.
They will not call you on the phone
Or wake you if the hour is late.
They stand together row by row,
Upon the low shelf or the high.
But if you’re lonesome this you know:
You have a friend or two nearby.

The fellowship of books is real.
They’re never noisy when you’re still.
They won’t disturb you at your meal.
They’ll comfort you when you are ill.
The lonesome hours they’ll always share.
When slighted they will not complain.
And though for them you’ve ceased to care
Your constant friends they’ll still remain.

Good books your faults will never see
Or tell about them round the town.
If you would have their company
You merely have to take them down.
They’ll help you pass the time away,
They’ll counsel give if that you need.
He has true friends for night and day
Who has a few good books to read.

Year’s End by Richard Wilbur

Year’s End by Richard Wilbur

by | Jan 1, 2025 | Life Poems, Nature Poems, Poems, Poetic Flows Podcast, Poetry, Winter Poems

Year’s End by Richard Wilbur

Now winter downs the dying of the year,   

And night is all a settlement of snow;

From the soft street the rooms of houses show   

A gathered light, a shapen atmosphere,   

Like frozen-over lakes whose ice is thin   

And still allows some stirring down within.

I’ve known the wind by water banks to shake

The late leaves down, which frozen where they fell   

And held in ice as dancers in a spell   

Fluttered all winter long into a lake;   

Graved on the dark in gestures of descent,   

They seemed their own most perfect monument.

There was perfection in the death of ferns   

Which laid their fragile cheeks against the stone   

A million years. Great mammoths overthrown   

Composedly have made their long sojourns,   

Like palaces of patience, in the gray

And changeless lands of ice. And at Pompeii

The little dog lay curled and did not rise   

But slept the deeper as the ashes rose

And found the people incomplete, and froze   

The random hands, the loose unready eyes   

Of men expecting yet another sun

To do the shapely thing they had not done.

These sudden ends of time must give us pause.   

We fray into the future, rarely wrought

Save in the tapestries of afterthought.

More time, more time. Barrages of applause   

Come muffled from a buried radio.

The New-year bells are wrangling with the snow.

Copyright Credit: Richard Wilbur, “Year’s End” from Collected Poems 1943-2004

December by Thomas Parsons

December by Thomas Parsons

by | Dec 3, 2024 | December Poems, Life Poems, Nature Poems, Poems, Poetic Flows Podcast, Poetry, Winter Poems

December by Thomas Parsons

You have again made your way in,
Cold and beautiful.
You are December,
And I love you.
Despite the seasonal celebration,
I know you to be more.
You are calm,
You allow me to slow,
To envelope the tranquility I crave.
Your winds, December, though cold,
Allow me to feel the life in my cheeks,
And if I’m lucky,
It too will bring the sweetness
Of some distant firewood.
I welcome your snow, December.
So that I may sit wrapped in wool,
By candlelight,
The dog having nestled in as well,
Watching the frozen rain accumulate
On the branches of the birch and oak.
Though I live in the city,
I dream of loving you December,
Even more – if I were in nature.
Then I would feel closer to you,
As a lover may feel,
Or perhaps a mother to a child.
I would know, I think, how to
More fully know why I am in love
With you.
And being with you, December,
Brings me to life.

Written by Thomas Parsons

People’s Day at Warwick Arts Centre

People’s Day at Warwick Arts Centre

by | Nov 21, 2024 | Community Events, Coventry, Emerald Book Club, Events

A festival celebrating 50 years of activism at Warwick Arts Centre.

As part of Warwick Arts Centre 50th anniversary celebrations, the local community takes over their spaces with a day of creativity all inspired by our ‘Rebels With A Cause’ season theme. 

From performances across music, spoken word and dance, to pop-up theatre, to workshops in poetry and visual arts workshops there is something for everyone to enjoy! 

All events are drop-in and suitable for all ages. We encourage you to explore our spaces and take part in as many things as you can. Get creative and channel your inner activist! 

Artists & Performers:

Canley Samba Band, Butterworth Hall

Join Canley Samba Band on the stage of the Butterworth Hall for a rhythmic workshop and experience some classic Samba Band beats! Band leader Dave Barrett will share the origins of Samba Band as one that brings people together through joy, connection and solidarity as he introduces each piece you’ll play.

Dotti Sallis and Nor Aziz, Uniting Communities, Upper Foyer

Our friends in Canley take over the Upper Foyer with an installation that celebrates key Canley spaces and the importance these have in bringing the community together.  Take part in a lantern making workshop in the morning and have a photo taken with performers from this year’s Canley Parade dressed in their illuminated costumes! 

Emerald Book Club, Upper Cinema Foyer

Emerald Book Club is a vibrant community of readers and creatives, passionate about promoting literacy, culture, and thought-provoking discussions. Join them throughout the day for storytelling and reading sessions, creative writing sessions and the opportunity to share your words from the sessions.

Emilie Lauren, Lower Foyer

Explore protest poetry with Coventry’s first Poet Laureate Emilie Lauren! Create your own poems and share them on our collective poetry blackboards to share your words with all. 

Foleshill Creates, Theatre Bar

Our friends at Foleshill Creates lead a day long drop-in workshop of craft activities in our Theatre Bar, with a focus on reusable and recyclable materials. 

Good Neighbours, Lower Foyer

Discover more about befriending, speak to the team, and take part in activities that celebrate the joy of friendship! 

Imagination Reading Cafés, Helen Martin Studio 

An hour-long pop-up theatre experience led by Pru Poretta (Coventry’s Lady Godiva) and Jah Man Aggrey, with interactive props, unique puppets, live music and audience participation!

Ode Creatives, Foyer Stage 

Enjoy this hour-long showcase set on our Foyer Stage featuring 4 local artists, each performing their own original songs that resonate with the ‘Rebels With A Cause’ theme. A celebration of local talent and amplifying voices. 

Out of Whack, Studio

Join Out of Whack, our Elders Dance Company, and choreographer Liz Agiss as they present a new work made specifically to celebrate ‘Rebels With A Cause’ and what dance means to them. A Q&A will follow their performance. 

Reign The Girl Band, Foyer Stage

Siân Jessica Lewis and Lily Smith from Reign, a multi-instrumentalist girlband, join us for an intimate, dynamic set showcasing original music from their upcoming EP. Blending acoustic and electronic elements the set will demonstrate the power of collaborative female musicianship. The performance will be followed by a short interactive workshop discussing barriers for women in the music industry, encouraging dialogue on how we can collectively rebel against these obstacles.

Sing for Change, Foyer Stage 

Sing For Change is a Coventry based community choir that meets to sing songs for peace, social justice, equality and the environment. Their set includes songs as well as performance poetry, written by poets with experience of the British asylum system. You’ll have the opportunity to learn and sing-along to two protest songs and participate in a Q&A. 

Tarla Patel, Creative Learning Space 

Join artist Tarla Patel for a zine and postcard making workshop that explores the theme of rebellion! Using collage making, drawing, text and colour, you’ll make your own mini-zine booklets based on the ‘Rebels With A Cause’ theme. 

Youth Leadership Collective with DASH Arts, Foyer Stage 

Members of our Youth Leadership Collective take to the stage to share powerful and persuasive speeches on topics they feel passionate about created as part of a workshop with DASH Arts. Amplifying voices and hearing what matters to the young people in our community. 

LEARN MORE
Peoples Day Wariwck Arts Centre

Schedule:

Across our foyers 
11am – 1pm:Lantern Making, Uniting Communities, Upper Foyer
11am – 4pm:Poetry Workshop with Emilie Lauren, Lower Foyer
 Befriending Stall and Activities, Good Neighbours, Lower Foyer
 Reuse and Recycle Craft Workshops, Foleshill Creates, Theatre Bar
 Creative Writing and Storytelling, Emerald Book Club, Cinema Foyer
Helen Martin Studio 
11.30am – 12.30pm:  Pop-up Theatre with Imagination Reading Cafes
1pm – 2pm:Pop-up Theatre with Imagination Reading Cafes
2.45pm – 3.15pm:Reign Workshop
Foyer Stage 
12pm – 1.30pm:Sing for Change
1.40pm – 2.10pm:Reign
2.20pm – 3.20pm:Ode Creatives
3.30pm – 4pm:Youth Leadership Collective and DASH Arts
Butterworth Hall Stage 
1.30pm – 3pm:Canley Samba Band workshop
Creative Learning Space 
1.30pm – 4pm:Zine-making workshop with Tarla Patel
Studio 
3pm – 4pm:Out of Whack, Elders Dance Performance and Q&A
Peoples Day Schedule Warwirck Arts Centre

Find us

Warwick Arts Centre
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL


View on Google Maps(opens in a new tab)

Box Office – 024 7649 6000

Box office opening hours:

Mon-Sun
from 30mins before the first event of the day
until 15mins after the final event of the day.
If you wish to email us: ticketing@warwick.ac.uk

It is November by Elizabeth Shield

It is November by Elizabeth Shield

by | Nov 19, 2024 | Autumn Poems, Life Poems, Nature Poems, November Poems, Poems, Poetry

It Is November

It is November
And all the leaves face my way
Overlapping tussocks of grass
Like long forgotten hills
Dwelling in the overhang of fall

It is November
Orange ribbons hand in tatters
Patched up yellow cloaks are draped
And whisking in the wind
Then drifting to the earth
And becoming winters pillow

It is November
And there stands a lonely tower
Base adorned with red bushes
Flags no longer flying
Crouched and crippled by the frost

It is November
My feet bear down on acorns
A thousand fold
All left and forgotten
Even to the squirrels
Just a layer ‘neath my feet

It is November
The solitary pines stand solid
Near the ivy covered wall
Their boughs raise and hail the heavens
And their needles fall
As the autumn wind dances a mournful dance

It is November
Bare branches rake the cloudy skies
And scratch out their heartfelt pleas
Against cold glass windows
Seeking what they have lost and will not find

It is November
An old gate stands ajar
Beckoning to no one
Standing solidly open
Despite the cruel fall wind

It is November
Trees make colored circles
A fading gold on fading green
A fireworks display
Now falling to the ground

It is November
Cold air fills my body
Cruel wind tosses my hair
I seek a shelter from autumn
My door is open
Now I am home

Elizabeth Shield