I discovered at the end of last week that the PayPal button on my web site had stopped working.
Luckily the person who designed my web site- the marvellous Martin Sherrell of Digital Itch – sorted it out for me pronto and I am in the happy position of being able to post out some more copies of my poetry map, Amniotic City.
This is a map of the Fleet Street/St Paul’s part of London, with thirteen poems inspired by walking and spending time in that part of the city.
I went to Occupy St Paul’s a couple of weeks ago with some copies of my poetry map, Amniotic City, and the people in the Information Tent at the time were keen to have a couple of the poems as posters. So I went back this week and stuck up two poems, ‘Feed the Birds’ which is in the shape of the dome of St Paul’s, and ‘The Imposible Circle-Squared Mile’ which is a comment on the foundations of the Square Mile and its business practices. These were written before any of the Occupy protests began but address some of the same issues and were written about this very part of London, so it seems fitting to have them in that spot.
From Spring Equinox to Summer Solstice this year, I spent a significant amount of time exploring the small patch of the Square Mile encompassing Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill and Cheapside. Walking, taking photos, thinking and experiencing this, one of the most ancient and earliest settled parts of London. The site of much archaeology, mythology, conjecture and rumour. And finance.
I wrote thirteen poems incorporating my experiences of this complex place, many of them weaving personal experience of being a woman and a mother, with this area of the City of London. The poems became a map, Amniotic City, thanks to the artistic talent and skill of my best friend, and is now the first collection of poems I have self-published.
I took some of the maps up to Occupy St Paul’s this week, feeling a surge of energy there, in that space I have haunted, which gave me hope that it is possible to change this frightening and untenable situation that we, the 99% find ourselves in.
People are busy, determined, friendly and ready to talk. The site is well organised, with a superb Information tent and Tent City University with a full timetable of workshops and talks going on. More support and ‘new blood’ is needed to go and occupy as the current occupiers get worn out and lives cannot be put on hold forever.
Do not believe what you read: the tents ARE occupied (of course) and these are people who believe so fervently and strongly about what thay are doing, that they have managed to put their normal everyday commitments to one side for a time.
Go and experience it for yourself if you can. I wish I could say that I would go up there and spend some time being an occupier but as a single parent of a four year old that option is not possible.
That this occupation is taking place on one of the most ancient, important and contested sites of power in London does not surprise me.
It’s poetry in motion.
LucyFurLeaps 