Poems About Life

I love poems. One cannot reason with poems. Imagination, emotions, feelings, sensibilities, and vibes are the stomping grounds of prose and poems. Poetry is not sciences and cannot be put under a process or argument. The dichotomy of that statement is that poetry has played a major role in shaping us as humans. Poems transmit ethics, codes, morality, knowledge, and values. Poems inspire and empower us.

Can poetry survive in the postmodern dystopian world of social media, crass commercialism, individuality, and capitalism gone wild on drugs?  The answer is yes. Poetry is thriving.

I am so grateful to my school for exposing me to Yeats, Keats, Burns, Kipling, and Shakespeare and their famous poems. As teenagers, we were challenged to have a holistic experience of life.

Poetry has been part of our culture since the beginning of time. Society needs them to be our conscience.

I am excited to interview Aimee Williams, who is a poet. Her poetry has inspired me as we all face a challenging year.

Aimee, welcome. You are the first poet; I am interviewing on Four Columns. Tell me something interesting about you?

I feel honored and privileged to be the first poet you have interviewed…thank you for choosing me! Hmmm something interesting about me….my mum is a former beauty queen (something I feel very proud to be able to say).

Have you always been a poet from a young age? And did you win all the literature prizes at school?

I have written poetry from as young as I can remember and in fact, I found an old notepad when I recently moved house, of all my younger years poems! I was around 10 years old when I started that particular notepad. I have won various poetry competitions over the years.

What role do a poet and poetry play in modern society?

I believe there is absolutely a place for poetry in modern society. It can bring comfort, happiness, and joy. It can give people a voice when they otherwise feel silenced. It can speak to communities in a deep and meaningful way and help to raise awareness of poignant issues. It can be an escape, a release, a form of therapy. I am also a social worker and I use poetry in my work with young people, helping them to tell their story and express their feelings in a unique and personal way. I also love performance poetry and I have worked with a number of different companies and organizations to produce multimedia packages to promote their causes. Poetry can really help to speak to hearts and minds in a positive way.  

Name me some poets that have influenced you and what is it about them you liked?

When I was a young child I loved the poet Pam Ayers. My Grandmother gave me one of her poetry books when I was around 10 years old and I loved her humor and her storytelling through rhyme and rhythm.

I admire the poet, Lemn Sissy. He writes about his own personal experiences of being in care, among many other things. He inspires me as a social worker and a writer.

Hollie McNish is one of my favorite performance poets. I love her honesty and her humor.  

Do you also write short stories and novels? And if you do what kind?

Yes, I do write stories too. I write children’s rhyming stories and my first book called ‘The Fairy, The Dreamer, and a Rabbit named Woof’ was published in 2018.

I want to know a little about the city you live in and the food scene?

The closest city to me is Bristol. Bristol has a thriving current and historical arts scene. Some of the modern venues and modern digital production companies have merged with legacy production companies based in old buildings around the city. In 2008 the city was a finalist for the 2008 European Capital of Culture. The city was designated “City of Film” by UNESCO in 2017 and has been a member of the Creative Cities Network since then.

The city has many venues for live music, it’s largest being the 2,000-seat Colston Hall, named after Edward Colston.

Bristol is the birthplace of 18th-century poets Robert Southey and Thomas Chatterton. William Wordsworth spent time in Bristol too. Actor Cary Grant was born in Bristol and comedians from the city include Justin Lee Collins and Lee Evans.

Bristol has long enjoyed a reputation as having one of the best food scenes in the UK. It has secured its place as the UK’s most interesting and vibrant food city outside London. The food scene is diverse and adds to the fabulous multicultural city that Bristol is.

As a modern poet, what does women empowerment mean to you?

The word empowerment means so much to me on so many levels. It means giving people a voice, giving people an opportunity, and giving people some power when they may otherwise feel powerless. This is true in my role as a poet and as a social worker.

As a poet, do you have any secrets as to how you manage your finances?

I am privileged to have my job in social work part-time and I also run two small businesses (a way with words bespoke poetry and Uniquely Chic furniture restoration business).

How have you kept yourself busy during the lockdown?

Writing! I have been writing a series called ‘Poems from a Lighthouse’. I challenged myself on day one of lockdown to write and publish a poem a day on social media.  The only time I missed a few days was when I was very poorly with what the doctors believed to be Corona Virus. The intention of this poetry series was to spread some positivity and light and it felt like one little thing I could do in a world where none of us have much control right now.  This grew into something much bigger then I anticipated and I have been sharing my own experiences of lockdown, the highs and lows, writing about anxiety and chronic illness, the experiences of children during lockdown (which my own children helped me write!) but also the humor of homeschooling and working from home with 3 small children! Leading up to Easter I did ‘word of the day’ where people would send me a word to describe how they felt and I would write about it, trying to help others put into words what they were feeling-this was well received too.  I composed a poem to music and photos for Victory in Europe Day and I produced spoken poetry for local and national charities and organizations to help them raise money and awareness. During mental health awareness week, I wrote every day about anxiety, depression, and other mental health struggles. I write and share my own experiences and the responses I had were great.  What began as a little challenge to myself to reach my local community grew into people around the world sharing my poems, which is great given the whole world is in this together!