Hi all!
This will be my final editor post, so I just want to say so many thanks to you all for sending such amazing, innovative and inspiring work for me to read over the last few years. I have always believed that the work of young writers needs to be read by everyone interested in poetry and in thinking about the world, and I think that the work displayed on these pages is a really valuable resource for people of all ages. I really hope that you all keep writing and sending your voices out into the world!
As a final piece of inspiration, I’ll leave you with this excellent short poetry film ‘More’:
The poem was part of a play devised by poet Pete Mullineaux and a group of transition year students at Colaiste Einde in Galway and performed by the group at Afri’s (Action from Ireland) Feile Bride Festival in Kildare in 2011. The theme of the play was food security and how war and greed are contributing factors to hunger and famine. The group had originally considered using the song ‘Food Glorious Food’ from the musical Oliver to open the play, but then decided to write their own poem/song and also update it into a rap style. People will remember that In the film ‘Oliver,’ the boy in the poorhouse is given a bowl of what they call ‘gruel’ and he famously asks for “More” – hence the title.
More recently one of the group, Graine Malone – who is a friend of Afri but also involved as a youth activist around many global issues such as climate change, hunger & poverty and a member of the Irish Youth Parliament – decided to make a film version of the poem with the help of her friends, and Roj Whelan who did the filming.
The play ‘More’ was published by Afri in a teaching resource: Just a Second! Exploring Global Issues through Theatre & Drama. Afri also publish Pete’s most recent book: Interdependence Day! Teaching the Sustainable Development Goals through Drama – a project supported by Irish Aid through WorldWise Global Schools.
More!
(“Oliver” updated)
Chicken wing, onion ring, curry sauce on everything,
chip, dip, egg flip – pumpkin seed and apple pip,
meat, sweet, sugar-beet – can you hear de sugar beat? De sugar beat?
In the beat box, cereal box, booze on the rocks in the ice box,
ice box, iced tea, wake on up and smell the coffee – smell the coffee!
Fish soup, spaghetti hoop, watermelon and cantaloupe,
Sunday roast, cheese on toast – eating, feeding, coast to coast,
deep fry, shepherd’s pie, reach up for that pie in the sky – pie in the sky!
Chocolate muffin, turkey stuffin’- shovel it down, can’t get enough in,
fill the space, fill the gap – fill the void when life feels crap,
More, more – more and more – wondering why and what it’s for,
feed the rich – starve the poor – some get less, some get more,
feed the rich – starve the poor – then go off and start a war,
‘cus some just want more and more and more,
don’t know what the hell it’s for,
but just keep grabbing more and more
more and more
more and more –
more and more….
Pete Mullineaux – Dec 2020
Thanks a million to Pete for sending this in, and to all the brilliant young people who worked on the poem and put the film together, and thanks again to you all – keep writing and thinking and shouting!
All good wishes,
Kathy 🙂