Skip to content
27 On Now

Many Poems, One Heart

7th Oct 8th Oct 2021

Dear Best Friend,

Thank You

for the beautiful time we shared...

Event Details
Categories
  • News,
  • LGBTQIA+

A collection of poems written by the members of Many Hands One Heart

Many Hands One Heart is a support and wellbeing project for people from the LGBTQ+ community who are seeking asylum in Liverpool. The group worked with poet Day Mattar to produce their own collection of poems which have been beautifully illustrated by Millie Chesters. These poems were released as a pamphlet for international poetry day 2021.

Day Mattar introduces the poems here:

An illustration of two people's heads. One head is suspended in a light pink circle. the heads face each other, smiling. They both have brown skin and dark hair.
'Dear Best Friend' - illustration by Millie Chesters

Dear Best Friend

Dear Best Friend,

Thank You

for the beautiful time we shared

and for always listening to me calmly.

You light me up just like

a light

would light up a dark room.

You made me feel free and it was fun sharing my coming out story with you.

I always wish to spend all of my spare time with you because

you make me feel complete and whole.

You just left a smile on my face right now

remembering the crazy things we have had in the past.

There is just a lot I would love to say

but the memories keep reminding me

of how far apart we are

and would do anything in the world just to have you right beside me.

Just writing this to let you know how amazing you are.

Cheers to a greater Us,

Cheers to making me who I am today

and cheers to me for being me.

- Chimdi

Listen to Dear Best Friend here:

Animal

The Forest is your home

Man in his ignorance won’t leave you alone

Strong together you hunt for survival

Man and his gun, your only rival

Oh how much beauty you have contributed to nature.

- Chimdi

Listen to Animal here:

An illustration of two deer in a forest at night
Forest Animal - illustration by Millie Chesters

Many Things Have Tried To Kill Me

Many things have tried to kill me…

Especially every morning when I wake up

And I am forced to live the same role

And for a long time, its not known when the end of waiting

The end of despair, the end of marginalization, and the end of the slow attempt to kill

All these details suffocate me and try to kill me (sorry for sharing this stuff)

- Hajar

A drawing of a person with a pink jacket stands by a path.
Path - illustration by Millie Chesters

The Enemy

He is your enemy,

the weak,

the inevitable,

he may call you now, but not this time

Now is your date with the summer sun

Sea waves,

the sound of the waterfall,

the celebrations of friends,

the sound of children,

ice cream carts,

traveling far,

discovering the depths,

holding your lover’s hand,

watching the sunset

and sitting in the rain.

- Hajar

Listen to The Enemy here:

The Wild Animal That You Think

The wild animal that you think,

that the circumstances and vicissitudes of life exhausted him,

and he is no longer able to travel in the universes and galaxies

to achieve the impossible...

You thwarted him

and then disappeared from existence...

You must restore him, with confidence

in love...

with optimism.

You will climb to the tops of the mountains,

just

be confident.

- Hajar

Listen to The Wild Animal That You Think here:

An illustration of two foxes. Their coats are a burnt orange colour and they walk east, one behind the other
Fox - illustration by Millie Chesters

The Fox

My orange colour is distinctive,

I can smell and hear from miles away,

my intelligence and cunning are unparalleled…

I have a varied diet between meat and plants.

I wish humans to raise enough ducks and chickens

because I can’t do without.

- Hajar

Listen to The Fox here:

The Ocean

When I was contemplating the ocean,

its vastness

its beauty and calmness

and all its details

I realised that there are secrets in this universe

that are deeper than the superficial things we live in

more important than the short moments of fun

I muttered with my mouth

were all this beauty and greatness

I felt,

these moments,

I am a saint.

- Hajar

Listen to The Ocean here:

An illustration of two mountains side by side. The mountain on the right sits amidst a light pink sky, whereas the sky behind the mountain on the left is white
Mountains - illustration by Millie Chesters

Love

I have more things that I hate from me, than the ones I love…

But there is one thing I always dreamt of

Something that when I was a teenager I wanted to show off

Something that makes me feel powerful

Something that makes me feel I slay

Something that makes me feel me

And then when I manage to get it, it gives me the confidence, it gives me identity and it became the symbol of my freedom.

- Britney

To The Young Who Want To Die

Life is expensive and sometimes not worth it.

Because honestly no one likes things without our consent

Who asked you to be born?

And specially in a shitty country?

Sometimes spending your life in things, you don’t want to do

Restricted by a society that cut your wings.

And yet

You manage to find things that help you to wake up every morning

The touch of a lover

The taste of their lips

The smell of that greasy pizza that makes you feel guilty afterwards

The view of your favourite place that brings you memories

Or the sounds of that song that makes your brain release serotonin

Yeah, Life sucks

You don’t want to live anymore, and yet you are hungry to see what’s next

- Britney

Listen to To The Young Who Want to Die here:

An illustration of a white dove with a pair of scissors about to clip its wing
Clipped Wings - illustration by Millie Chesters

I'll Take You To A Getaway

I’ll take you to a getaway

Leave your imagination go wild

To a place with mountains and animals

Can you hear the birds singing?

I’ll go down on my knees now, and the rest is on you.

- Britney

The Anxious Possum

Ding dong ding dong

Flowers here, flowers there

I came out of the trash can

Didn’t find anything to eat

But the garden of this house is something good

Ding dong ding dong

Live hard, die fast.

- Britney

An illustration of a gnarly looking possum who has a pink nose, scrubby black fur, little eyes and a wild grin
Possum- illustration by Millie Chesters

Listen to The Anxious Possum here:

Secret Codes

Vamos a empezar como siempre.

Saludando sin saludar

Porque hay muchas cosas que siempre he querido decirles,

Pero nunca las digo porque ya las saben

Nunca hemos necesitado decir nada sobre sentimientos,

Porque sabemos están ahí,

Aunque la caguemos o triunfemos

Aunque estemos felices o tristes, ya sabemos estamos ahí

Escribí esta carta porque quería decirles cosas que no puedo.

Pero termine no diciendo nada,

Porque estamos mas haya de eso.

- Britney

>> Translation

Let’s start as usual

Saying Hi without saying Hi

Cause there’s a lot of things I always wanted to tell you

But I never said them, because you already knew it.

We never needed to say something about feelings,

Because we know they are there,

Even if we fucked up or we win

Even we are sad or happy, we know we are going to be there

I wrote this letter because I wanted to say things I normally not say

But I ended up not saying anything

Because we are beyond that.

- Britney

Two men with dark hair and brown skin stand next to each other, closely
Secret Codes - illustration by Millie Chesters

Listen to Secret Codes here:

Downloads

Digital Download - Many Poems, One Heart