The Murmuration of Words
Write me a poem
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Picture, if you will, a murmuration of words. Much like a gathering of starlings, words converging to create an epistolary poem.
On January 25th 2023, (Dydd Santes Dwynwen, St Dwynwen’s day, the Welsh patron saint of lovers) I kickstarted a project inviting people to get involved in a poetry murmuration.
I wondered if we could murmurate a collective epistolary poem or piece of writing, through many voices, using the medium of a letter.
I had the idea while searching for some documents in my box of things just before Christmas. I found a letter I’d written to my dear Nan and Grandad when I was about 10 years old, just after we'd moved to Munich, Germany. When my Nan died, which was many years ago now, the letter had come back to me. I’d forgotten I had it. When I read it again as an adult, it did two things to me: firstly, I was transported right back to my child self, in my bedroom through my handwriting, sitting on my bed with the very same piece of paper in my hand and all the memories I was spilling out; and secondly, I was struck with the power and intimacy a letter has, providing a tiny glimpse into the past like a photograph.
It was in that moment, I understood the real importance of a letter.
It made me consider the loss of this written form of connection that we're experiencing in our society, where communication is so instant. A letter has a beautiful slowness and unfolding. It allows room for contemplation.
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There are currently 39 people involved in this project, with guest poets, including Jo Bell, Jonathan Davidson, Jane Burn, Rosie Garland, Clare Shaw and Sophie Herxheimer onboard.
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This is how it Works:
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I write the first part of a poem and send it to Person A, along with a list of names and addresses of willing participants. Person A writes the next line of the poem, chooses someone from the list (Person B) and sends the poem, to them. Person B then repeats the process, sending it to someone else on the list. When anyone feels the poem is complete at any point, they send it back to me.
For an extra bit of fun, I’ve asked the poem be written in the Japanese form of Renga Poetry. It works with a pattern of syllables. It doesn’t really matter if you don’t get it exactly right. While the poem is in your hands, you can influence it however you wish.
Get Involved
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This project has now gone full cycle, with poem#25 arriving home on our anniversary, the 25th January 2024. We've lost two poems, that I know about, due to a postal re-direction that went wrong. Instead of replacing the missing poems, I decided to gracefully let them go. Life is transient, as are words. The act of coming together and parting is not always smooth. Death is inevitable. The loss of these poems are part of this process.
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I’ve applied for an Arts Council Wales grant to include workshops and a murmurating exhibition later in 2024. For now, I’m inviting new members to join our flock. There's a small monthly subscription fee of £3.50 to cover my administration costs, or you can choose to pay a one off annual subscription of £36 (you can cancel at any time). This will include one murmuration a month (sent out in the second week of each month) for you to participate in and to gain access to a private facebook group, where the completed poem is shared, plus a discount a workshop, which I plan to run later this year.
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