My Rants In Rhyme Poems

The Spider In The Glass

In the Summer of 2023 Laura Anne Middlemiss (Artist and Illustrator) and I got together to create pictures and words which would tell the story of domestic abuse in a relationship. We would go on to use some of our work, this poem and a collection of images to introduce the story of The Spider In The Glass in a leaflet. The leaflet also included the contact details for agencies who offer support to those experience domestic abuse. The leaflet was created in collaboration with the Highland Violence Against Women Partnership.

Sex Crime

Crimes of sexual violence are often exacerbated by the cultural norms of victim blaming and shaming. Why do we not question the perpetrators behaviour and choices? Is this a sex crime?

Bold (Silver Jacket)

This poem was written in Edinburgh after watching a performance of a show called "Are you still watching?" at the Fringe Festival, by a lady called Sonia Wilson. Her one women show took the audience on a whirlwind tour of all the reasons why we humans, do not get on, with following our dreams. The main character always wanted to sew a silver jacket and so "Bold" was written. That same year after a very successful "Reclaim The Night March" a lady called Lorna Stanger ran overnight from Inverness to Thurso (110 miles). I read Bold to the gathering before Lorna set off, in her silver running jacket. It's become something of a tradition, whenever I see you Lorna, I read Bold for her. It's a reminder to us all to chase our dreams and be bold.

She

I wrote this poem to share with participants on my training and in a Scottish poster campaign. It is an invitation to reflect on victim focus, victim blame and victim shame.

The Untangling

The Untangling - Is simply a reflection of the value of a therapeutic journey. Particularly for those whose trust and boundaries have been violated.

Used

Used - Is an invitation to consider the commodification of women and girls. It reflects how women are often degraded by language used to describe inferior commodities.

Unconscious Bias

Unconscious Bias - I use storytelling to create understanding of lived experience. Our lived experience creates our unconscious bias. Every course contains a reference to bias and this poem. We cannot instruct people to change their bias but we can invite them to a higher level of awareness of it and the impact of it.