PERFORMANCE POETRY GALLERY
“To be human is to become visible while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others.” David Whyte
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Patricia Ahern
Patricia Ahern is an Irish poet, published author, podcaster and Mental Fitness Self Love coach helping people to become their own guru and fall in love with themselves. Her work blends storytelling, emotional insight, and mindfulness. She hosts the Mindful Poetic Stories podcast, where she shares poetic reflections, coaching stories, personal experiences and life lessons to inspire self-awareness, acceptance and growth.
Contact: hello@pacoaching.co.uk
Website: www.pacoaching.co.uk
About the Poem:
This poem was written by Patricia Ahern during a 10-hour writing session as part of the Artathon—a creative fundraiser to support the construction of a Community Art Gallery in Kakuma Refugee Camp. Inspired by the powerful artwork produced by refugee artists in the Kakuma Art Project workshops, Patricia’s poetic story reflects resilience, the power of connection and creativity, and hope rising from adversity’ it is a prayer for a better future where we can all think of each other more & especially those who struggle under oppression so humanity can rise strong
Sometimes
by Mark Vernon Freestone
Mistakes
by Louise Delaney
Read by Sophie Key
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Ladders of life
by Louise Delaney
Read by Sasha Paul
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Early morning gift
Written and read by Tara Dominick
A Welcome
By Math Jones
Math Jones was born in London, lives now in Herefordshire. Formerly a bookseller & actor. Writes often in Pagan, folkloric & mythological themes, with two collections: Sabrina Bridge (Black Pear Press) & The Knotsman (Arachne Press).
Find out more about Math’s poetry collections here: https://linktr.ee/mathjones
About the poem
This poem, A Welcome, might be a retreat of sorts into a place of greater safety; entering a place of intense reality, evading the pursuit of superfluous concerns.
We are family
Written & Performed by Amanda Waring
Buy her poetry book here:
Amanda is a force of light , an award winning West End and Tv actress, performance poet, filmmaker ,speaker , celebrant , elder care campaigner and deeply gifted medicine woman . Her powerful voice and heartfelt songs have reached around the globe even gracing the presence of the Queen .
Her films and books on Elder Care and Poetry bring deep comfort to those walking through life’s hardest moments . She has spoken her poetry at he United Nations , The House of Lords and at many sacred global gatherings . Her work inspires compassion, healing and sacred action. Please join her U tube channel above.
Beloved
Written and performed by Pete Cranmer
Lunatic, lover, and performance poet, Pete has committed acts of theatre/poetry at various venues throughout the UK. He comes from an acting background and his often intense and energised presentation reflects this.
He uses theatre skills to open out and fully communicate the emotional heft of his poems.
Pete’s work runs the gamut from seriously silly frivolous fripperies to dark and deep dives into the human psyche: both shadows and light.
His first collection: Between the Inbreath and the Out is available from Amazon here:
His second collection, working title: Poems to Make Your Wolf Howl, will be published towards the end of the year.
Instagram.com/petecranmer.poet
youtube.com/@petecranmer-poems1177
Mama
Sung by Icelandic singer, poet & actress
Olof Sverrisdottir
This is a song I sang to my mum at her funeral. It is about a girl that wakes up in the middle of the night after dreaming that her mum was the queen of a big palace, with an orchestra of trolls, fairies and humans playing instruments.
In this song she tells her mum about the dream and how she would love to become a conductor of a big orchestra when she is older.
There’s A Blessing In A Walk
Written & Performed by Michelle Dennehy
Winner of the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing 2024
Michelle Dennehy is the 2024 winner of the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing. In 2025 she was named runner-up in the SWLF Poetry Prize, and was shortlisted in the Fish Poetry Prize. Her work has been published in a variety of Irish and UK journals, including Skylight 47, The Stony Thursday Book, The Cormorant, The Honest Ulsterman, Abridged, and Amphibian.
Michelle lives in the beautiful Sperrin mountains in county Tyrone.
Evening comes too soon
Written and performed by
Tasha Bertram
Written & performed by
Pascal Placide
who lives in Kakuma Refugee camp.
The Fire within Kakuma
Born where poor names poor,
I rose from the dust,
In Kakuma’s heat, where survival is a must.
Not just a camp, but a forge of the strong—
A place where hardship sings resilience in song.
Education came not just through chalk and slate,
But through hunger, courage, and wrestled fate.
Around me, young dreams often fade into haze,
Girls in early marriage, lost in unchosen ways.
Boys with empty pockets fill silence with pain,
Dragged by addiction through shadows and rain.
Jobs are rare, hope even rarer still—
So we built CAPS with fire, vision, and will.
To teach, to lift, to pave a path wide,
Where youth gain skills, and walk again with pride.
For champions rise where chances bloom— From unskilled to skilled
Yes, I am raised in Kakuma’s flame,
Where sweat carves dreams and courage earns a name.
About CAPS
Community Action for Peace and Solidarity is a Refugee youths Led organization based in kakuma refugee camp, empowering refugees through Livelihood activities, Education and Digital Literacy.
Mission: Building a united community that promotes peace social justice, quality education and understanding through grassroots initiatives.
Poet: Jackie Lowe
About Creative Souls
How it all started
After a difficult and challenging time in my life that led to a lengthy period of depression, I found solace in poetry. It was a cathartic and healing experience for me. Inspired by this, I decided to create a space where others could experience the same. I found a venue, and a year later an amazing event has continually evolved called ‘Creative Souls.’ We come together as a collective, a group of Creative Souls. Our words have become a source of healing for all of us, but also an inspiration for all of us – fuelling further creativity, with an array of beautiful art and with music in the mix too.
We have grown into a collaborative community that is welcoming and accepting – with no judgement and continual support – which really is greater than the sum of its parts… described by members as ‘a spiritual warm hug’ and ‘alchemy… when we get together something magical happens’.
What started as an experiment to see if poetry, spoken word, music and art would attract like-minded performers and audiences has now grown into regular sell-out events encouraging both first timers who have not shared their words before as well as more seasoned performers, who support and value each others’creativity – we laugh and we cry and we cheer and we have become friends – as Einstein said ‘creativity is intelligence having fun’. Jackie Lowe
This spot could be yours!
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