Two poetry books launched at Glasgow’s Better Crack Club
Written by Anne Pitcher
At the brilliant new venue for Glasgow’s Better Crack Club, Andina Columbian Coffee Shop, two long standing members of the club, launched their poetry books – Caitlin Fullwood “Not So Lonely Mountains” and Nuala Watt “The Department of Work and Pensions Assesses a Jade Fish”. Taking very different approaches to expressing themselves through poetry, Caitlin and Nuala read excerpts of their work to a packed house. Interwoven with story and song, it was a great night.
Nuala Watt’s poems lead us through the bureaucratic labyrinth of government assessment, the anxious joy of expecting a child and, with verve and originality, the realities of being a disabled parent. The book isn’t only about disability though. It’s about authenticity, justice, passion – life in dynamic fullness – conveyed in verse that is formally astute and spiritually attuned. It’s about anger, hope, frustration, love, and “how to take up a life and walk away.”
Disabled Person’s Travel Card – Nuala Watt
Council, council, let me on the bus
That you let me on last week.
Oh no, Ms Watt, you can’t go on the bus
For we don’t know where you live.
So off I went to get proof of address
And I thought I’d sorted out the mess
But the council tore it up.
Council, council let me on the bus
That you let me on last week.
Oh no, Ms Watt, you can’t go on the bus
For we need a doctor’s note.
So I got them a note to make it clear
That I’m still disabled, like last year.
But the council tore it up.
Council, council, let me on the bus
That you let me on last week.
Oh no, Ms Watt, you can’t go on the bus.
We need two sick notes, not one.
The neurologist said I know you know
That cerebral palsy won’t just go.
Still, here’s a form to tell them so.
But the council tore it up.
Council, council, let me on the bus
With my lifelong reasons why.
Oh no, Ms Watt, you can’t go on the bus
For your picture isn’t straight.
So I sent a note to my MSP
And he wrote a poem in praise of me.
But the council tore it up.
Council, council, let me on the bus
With my lifelong reasons why.
Oh no, Ms Watt, you can’t go on the bus
For you’re trying to rip us off.
I showed the form to my sister-in-law
And we typed all night till our nerves were raw
But the council tore it up.
Council, council, let me on the bus
With my pile of paperwork.
Oh no, Ms Watt, you can’t go on the bus.
We require a note from God.
So I went to church and knelt to pray.
God sent me a letter the very next day.
But the council tore it up.
Council, council, stop. I’ve had enough.
I’ve had all that I can stand.
Oh good. Your application went
Exactly as we planned.
Drawn from her experiences of love and loss, of facing life’s challenges and setbacks, Caitlin Fullwood expresses a world of intense feeling which touch the heart. Caitlin has a unique way of looking at life, exploring its depth and meaning, reflecting her thoughts in simple words, enabling the reader to see things in a new ways.
Straight lines and wasted space.
Clarity and chaos.
An idea so clear
Spare no expense.
Have we given up trying?
To make something new and bold
Corbusier would sigh.
We haven’t yet found the
Clarity of the engineer,
Behind the chaos of beauty.
A house is a machine for living in,
And they couldn’t achieve that.
You were looking in the wrong places,
They have lost their sight.
But magic can be found,
In the darkness of the night.
Someone else has found it,
I think I might have too,
I will waste no space,
If there is any left,
That has not yet
Been screwed.
“Not So Lonely Mountains” by C. Fullwood
IBSN 9798837037610
Publication date: 20th October 2023
£9.99
‘The Department of Work and Pensions Assesses a Jade Fish’ by Nuala Watt
Blue Diode Press
ISBN: 978-1-915108-17-3
Publication Date: 20 February 2024
£10
