By a brilliant stroke of luck, we met poet for hire, Luke Davis (@laughing_foxe),on the South Bank in London, and he wrote us this verse:
The Torn Project
I am torn. I am pulling in multiple directions at once
I am falling to pieces. I am not the same person I used
to be. I cannot trust myself. I
abuse myself, I deceive myself
I cannot even decide on a name
I punish myself and poison myself
and lacking any capacity for pleasure, any
ability to enjoy
I am made mean, reptilian and skin-scaled and hard
and I daren't let anyone near me and my environment is a
threat
how can I embody kindness
so that the air is like a lover's touch, so the air is
spritely and flirtatious about me so that the sun plants
kisses on my brow
and how can I care tenderly, but also fiercely
ferociously and protectively
and how can I gain wisdom
which is not diffuse nor platitudinal
which not mere saw and maxim
but precise
as cut diamond?
(Luke Davis, 28th June 2024)