Our young writers have been participating in online workshops #wordsonwednesdays during lockdown. We asked if they’d be happy for us to share some of their responses to tasks set by the workshop leaders. Here is the first, by Mathew Anderson, inspired by exercises set by John Glenday. We hope you enjoy it.
The Freedom I Share
Who am I?
From the day I could speak and perceive the world, I’ve felt like a wolf amongst sheep: different enough
to be them and yet unlike them at the same time. When I was a child, whenever I acted out of line with people’s expectations, my classmates would giggle and tease.
Their stares would say: “You are weird.”
Yes, I regret that I’m weird, but I have no regrets.
I am constrained by society’s expectations, but my mind is boundless.
Like the stars that blanket the night sky, my mind is not bound by Earthly troubles. It is free: free to explore things out of touch with reality.
Call me weird.
Call me strange.
But I am human like you; I share your freedom.
Troubles and Woes
Stars. The stars are out for you:
luminous guides in the dark.
You look at the moon.
Like staring at the face of God.
The boy is alone, yet crowded with troubles.
He stands on the edge as a crow stands on the branch:
stable, yet so close to the big drop.
Who?
Why?
What?
All the questions that plague you.
You:
innocence hidden in a box amongst a shelf of lost things.
“Filthy rat!” They shout.
Why?
You scamper away like one, away from their scorn
Curse the world for its judgement.
Now you stand at the precipice.
You prepare to cut your connection to life as a farmer cuts his rice.
Views/opinions expressed are the author’s own and do not represent those of any individual from Moniack Mhor or Moniack Mhor itself. Copyright remains with the author.