Here we are at Glastonbury Festival 2022 Poetry&Words stage!
Boom boom boo, boom boom!
I am here, your blessed blogger Dominic Berry, lapping up the rhythms and rhymes and reporting back on who I have seen and what I have heard and what wonders we still have coming on ….. at Poetry&Words.
BEN NORRIS
Ben is firmly established as a staple of the international spoken word scene. Ben’s insightful angle on modern living and the importance of engaging with positive, realistic talk on mental health is urgent and ace. His set was top.
SUE is a poem ben has made celebrating a Dad’s new partner. It is an honest and heart-warming look at a human with all their fabulousnesses and flaws. On a wider level, it made me think of how we all interact with those on the peripheries of our family, and how at first seemingly fleeting moments can have a lasting, grounding sense of new belonging.
MAKE-UP ARTIST is a sobering poem exploring one moment of intense intimacy with a stranger. It contains the line ‘it is easier to love someone you don’t yet know’, which resonated greatly with me.
A superb set from a superb artist – equally full of smiles and sensitivities.
Then…. next on was Culain Wood……..
CULAIN WOOD
Glastonbury 2022 is not Culain’s first Glastonbury, but as a relatively new arrival on the spoken word circuit, it is his first booked as an artist.
His work is amazing.
Culain’s poetry is enviously accessible, inspiringly crafted and full of integrity, humility and fragility. It takes great confidence to be so compellingly fragile upon a stage, as Culain is when he speaks of his daughter, now living with his ex-partner, inviting him to ‘her house’ for a party. Culain’s sadness at no longer being able to be his daughter’s ‘everything’ is immediately relatable and expertly phrased. The vulnerability Culain trusts his audience with when he performs is awesomely powerful.
A poem about the recent self-outing of Blackpool’s gay footballer, a mere 20 seconds in length, brought tears to my eyes. A rhyme reporting real heard conversation …. exploring what it used to be and what it now is to be seen as queer – this is a supremely important and excellent piece.
Another of the many highlights of Culain’s set was his COULD DO MORE poem. This is a set of stanzas not merely written to give ourselves a pat on the back for doing the ‘right’ thing, nor to finger-point at anyone in a way which does not include the artist himself – this poem truly made me think about how I engage with the planet and what more I can do … and will do … to be a better human.
To be a better human.
Culain’s set made me want to be a better human.
It’s as big as that!
Top work, mate!
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Did you miss Ben or Culain?
Ben Norris is on at Poetry&Words again tomorrow just after 3pm.
Culain is again on right after Ben, tomorrow at half three.
If you’re in Glastonbury for the festival come on down to the Poetry&Words stage for an inspired, inspiring and excellent time.
Love to all.
See you here soon!
Poetry&Words at Glastonbury Festival 