Creative age workshop

within a sheltered living scheme

residents oldish
some younger than me
most yoked to challenges –
me blessedly free
for now at least

I fretted to select poems
didn’t want to swamp
lovely folk with hard words
dense works   I couldn’t
make them sad   lost
in miscomprehension

I did my normal thing – I’ll read
unless I have a volunteer
expecting no-one    then

your quiet cracked voice said
I will    your wife stared at you
soft through dementia’s mist    alerted
by your gentle confidence

and you read Frost’s A Time to Talk
with your whole deep-timbred heart
claimed its meaning    read friendship’s
rhythm in rich-seamed Geordie tones

Ceinwen lives near Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and writes short stories and poetry. She has been widely published in web magazines and in print anthologies. She has an MA in Creative Writing [Newcastle 2017]. She believes everyone’s voice counts.