Poetry Mosaic
2023 National Poetry Day: ‘Refuge’
Welcome to the Litfest ‘Refuge’ Poetry Mosaic!
The poems below respond to this year’s National Poetry Day theme of refuge. The submitted poems cover a huge range of themes, from fleeing war and comfort, to the refuge provided by peace and routine at home. We invite you to spend time exploring the mosaic below (best viewed on a desktop PC), and to think about what ‘refuge’ means to you.
You can also search for individual poems in the table underneath the mosaic.
As a companion to this mosaic, on Thursday 5 October poet Caroline Bird will MC a special gala event, in which selected poems from the mosaic will be read out alongside Caroline’s own poetry and other poems on the theme of ‘Refuge’. You can book a free/pay what you can ticket here – the event can be watched either in-person or online.
| Poet | Title | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Bev Clark | Without a Refuge | Feeling Trapped |
| Rosemary Drescher | New Girl | Feeling Trapped |
| Maggie Norton | Behind the Garage | Feeling Trapped |
| Gavin Birchall | Chrysalis | Change |
| Lydia Jones | Anaesthesia | Change |
| Rahela Khan | With Each Step | Change |
| Neil Lewis | The Scribe | Change |
| Helen Poskitt | Safety | Change |
| Sean Tong | Those Days | Change |
| Charles Whitehead | Refuge - 2 | Change |
| Bev Clark | Drought | Climate and Extreme Weather |
| Tim Ellis | Working in the Shadows | Climate and Extreme Weather |
| Dale Kit | Wanderers | Climate and Extreme Weather |
| Alison McNulty | Sea Change | Climate and Extreme Weather |
| Terence Quinn | A Remnant of the Ice Age | Climate and Extreme Weather |
| Michael Ryan | Rainforest Fires | Climate and Extreme Weather |
| Morna Sullivan | Before the Rain Fell | Climate and Extreme Weather |
| Kevin Wright | Climate the mother of all battles | Climate and Extreme Weather |
| Georgia Young | Refuge | Climate and Extreme Weather |
| Martha Ashwell | The Glass Quilt | Connections |
| Linda Downs | The Red Tent | Connections |
| Susanne Holt | The Orchard | Connections |
| Rosemary Moore | Neighbourhood watch | Connections |
| Sandra Noel | Newfoundland | Connections |
| Natalie Wilson | This Thin Afternoon in May | Connections |
| Ping Yi Yee | Kin where kin are | Connections |
| Jill Abram | Time to Go | Distance and Separation |
| Rebecca Gethin | Domestics in Hong Kong | Distance and Separation |
| Sue Keenan | For Caroline | Distance and Separation |
| Andrea Lucy-Hirst | My Grandmother's Comb | Distance and Separation |
| Inga Piotrowska | Ailments of an immigrant | Distance and Separation |
| Des Rhodes | Ever So (safe) | Distance and Separation |
| Bryony Rogers | Aotearoa | Distance and Separation |
| Laura Strickland | Refuge was the School Library | Distance and Separation |
| Jennifer Copley | Escape | Escape |
| Rochelle Hutchison | Shelter | Escape |
| Tom Oliver | I Ran | Escape |
| Edward William Rafter | Pounding | Escape |
| Gillian Sheath | Suffocation | Escape |
| Morna Sullivan | No Turning | Escape |
| Morna Sullivan | One Step Forward | Escape |
| Charles Whitehead | Refuge - 1 | Escape |
| Lania Knight | I Dare You | False Refuge and Betrayal |
| Graham Lowe | Coronation Day | False Refuge and Betrayal |
| Rebecca Samuels | Invictat | False Refuge and Betrayal |
| Rebecca Samuels | Turning Point | False Refuge and Betrayal |
| Sue Silver | I Came to You For Refuge | False Refuge and Betrayal |
| Kiran Raza | Fake Friends | False Refuge and Betrayal |
| Roger Allen | beginning | Goodbyes and Partings |
| Philip Burton | Memory Lane | Goodbyes and Partings |
| Paul Daley | For She Was in My Arms | Goodbyes and Partings |
| Rachel Gibson | When Autumn Comes | Goodbyes and Partings |
| Donna Gowland | Passenger | Goodbyes and Partings |
| Cansu Han | Yew Tree Road | Goodbyes and Partings |
| Angela Young | Just Be On Your Way | Goodbyes and Partings |
| Bev Clark | Wanderers | Histories |
| Neil Curry | Sinai | Histories |
| Ben Haywood | A Word of Two Soldiers | Histories |
| Keith Jones | An Gorta Mór (1846) | Histories |
| Susan Kaberry | Here lies poor Samboo 1736 | Histories |
| David Lewis Pogson | He is not missing; he is here | Histories |
| Jules Telford | The Italian Chapel Orkney | Histories |
| Anna Louise Thoburn | Refuge in the Grave | Histories |
| Angela Young | Out of the Dark - Into the Light | Histories |
| Frances Malaney | Ward 10A | Hospitals and Medicine |
| Mark Connors | New York in May | Hospitals and Medicine |
| Joanna Pridmore | Refuge | Hospitals and Medicine |
| Leeds Refugee Forum ESOL Class | Home | Houses and Homes |
| Barbara Buril Lins | And I Love Shells | Houses and Homes |
| Emily Cooke | Nest | Houses and Homes |
| Rebecca Gethin | The house that disappeared | Houses and Homes |
| John P Hindle | Rough Sleepers | Houses and Homes |
| Sally James | Homefires | Houses and Homes |
| Hiram Larew | Edges Up | Houses and Homes |
| Maggie Mackay | Can You See Me | Houses and Homes |
| Nadia Nasiri | The Vow of My Safety | Houses and Homes |
| Tom Oliver | Home Sweet Home | Houses and Homes |
| Terence Quinn | just a small place | Houses and Homes |
| Hannah Shooter | Home | Houses and Homes |
| Anita Slater | Comfortable in my | Houses and Homes |
| Catherine West-McGrath | Refuge | Houses and Homes |
| Kate Aspinall | Weather Like This | Houses and Homes |
| Barbara Buril Lins | The Godlike Character of Them | Identity and Self |
| Rachel Gibson | Shelter | Identity and Self |
| Donna Gowland | Me against the storms | Identity and Self |
| Lucy Joyelle Inanna | Steam and the Oak | Identity and Self |
| Mariyam Karolia | Simple words | Identity and Self |
| Ales Plotka | Thermal imager | Identity and Self |
| Maggie Mckay | Unbelonging | Identity and Self |
| Mussarat Rahman | I am Refugee | Identity and Self |
| Bryony Rogers | My Song of Refuge | Identity and Self |
| Tony Rogers | Unwanted | Identity and Self |
| Kiran Raza | Brown beauty | Identity and Self |
| Natalie Wilson | I Am My Own Sanctuary | Identity and Self |
| Sally James | Refuge | Love and Romance |
| Elizabeth Gibson | All you can do is love them now | Love and Romance |
| Lara Hurley | Love Like Water | Love and Romance |
| Lucy Joyelle Inanna | The much longed for love | Love and Romance |
| Mish Liddle | Deus Homo | Love and Romance |
| Dorina McDowell | My Father's Hand | Love and Romance |
| David Milligan Croft | I have built a place for you | Love and Romance |
| Helen Poskitt | A Song For My Lover | Love and Romance |
| Ezra Ravenwood | Closer | Love and Romance |
| Verity Agababian | Inner Peace | Mental Health |
| Zoe Louise Eccles | Refuge in Fire | Mental Health |
| Paul Fisher | Agoraphobia | Mental Health |
| Donna Gowland | Shelter | Mental Health |
| Ben Halewood | The bottomless lake | Mental Health |
| Lucy Joyelle Inanna | Emotional Pain | Mental Health |
| Maggie Mackay | I Belong Nowhere in My Dreams | Mental Health |
| Mel Oddity | Untitled | Mental Health |
| Chris Sewart | Anxious | Mental Health |
| Gavin Birchall | Leaving leaves | Nature and Animals |
| Mark Connors | A haunting | Nature and Animals |
| Zo Copeland | Midnight Garden | Nature and Animals |
| Zo Copeland | Burrow | Nature and Animals |
| Kerry Darbishire | Juniper Berries | Nature and Animals |
| Juliet Fossey | the bothy | Nature and Animals |
| Claire Griffel | My Lone Tree | Nature and Animals |
| Wendy Haslam | Blue Boo | Nature and Animals |
| Ben Halewood | Eyes in the Dark | Nature and Animals |
| Sally James | Natures Realm | Nature and Animals |
| Lania Knight | Alone at the Hide | Nature and Animals |
| Rosemary Moore | Leighton Moss Reserve | Nature and Animals |
| Lania Knight | Loch Sunart, Wednesday Morning | Nature and Animals |
| Bryony Rogers | Bumblebee Refuge | Nature and Animals |
| Rupert Smith | 'Sparrowhawk, The' Tells The World He Doesn't Work Alone | Nature and Animals |
| Lynne Taylor | Out of the Blue | Nature and Animals |
| Amelia Smith | The Doggy Poem | Nature and Animals |
| Mike Barlow | Prayer | Routine and Peace |
| Julie Elizabeth Croston | Black Night | Routine and Peace |
| Elizabeth Gibson | Sometimes you quietly realise you are living your dream | Routine and Peace |
| Ann Grant | Five year journal mash up | Routine and Peace |
| Ann Grant | Praise the beige | Routine and Peace |
| Antony McPhillips | Flow | Routine and Peace |
| Wendy Haslam | Time Spent | Routine and Peace |
| Catherine Selby | Accommodation | Routine and Peace |
| Cathy Sullivan | I take my refuge home | Routine and Peace |
| Adele Armistead | Refuge | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Lara Hurley | Bake On | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Ann Grant | because you are my home | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Heather | Easter Exmoor 2023 | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Susanne Holt | Naoshima Pumpkin | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Phil Isherwood | Find Refuge in Kindness | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Lyra Powell | good weather for ducks | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Peter Devonald | She Speaks to Me | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Jill Abram | Haven | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Tonnie Richmond | Hiding Place | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Tonnie Richmond | Home | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Rachel A Walmsley | Hope | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Ruth Beadle | Change | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Anna Louise Thoburn | A Journey through Quicksand | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Amelia Smith | My Place | Sanctuary and Comfort |
| Jill Abram | Window on the World | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Sue Allen | Castaways | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Peter Ayling | Refugee | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Boakesey | Sardines | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Philip Burton | Refuges on the Beach | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| David Canning | The Final Thoughts of Latinos' Poetry Notebook | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| David Canning | This #Precious Stone … in a #Silver Sea | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Mark Connors | Try a little empathy | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Beth Daley | For the small things | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Michael Eyre | The Refugee | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Elizabeth Hare | Sanctuary | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Anne Hood | Night Crossing | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Trystan Lewis | A small boat on a big sea | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Andrea Lucy-Hirst | Channel Patrol | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Lara Hurley | The Smuggler | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Bill Pook | Aabish, Aisha, Afkar and Aflah | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Tony Rogers | Life Boy | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Michael Ryan | The Trafficker | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Maggie Scott | Twenty Seven | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Rachel A Walmsley | 'asylum' | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Eileen Webb | Inappropriate anthem for a former refugee | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Angela Young | Refugee | Sea Migrations and Crossings |
| Mariam Aboelezz | Shells | War and Conflict |
| Philip Burton | The Sunflower Will Shine Tomorrow | War and Conflict |
| Iveta Kraule | Dedicated to Ukraine | War and Conflict |
| Richard Easton | Home | War and Conflict |
| Rebecca Gethin | A Roman burial chamber, Syria | War and Conflict |
| Wendy Haslam | The Carpenter's Bench | War and Conflict |
| Ales Plotka | A letter to Max Ščur | War and Conflict |
| Ales Plotka | Pushin walks through Bucha | War and Conflict |
| Tony Rogers | Make believe | War and Conflict |
| Tony Rogers | World without borders | War and Conflict |
| Maggie Scott | A Song For Those Displaced By War | War and Conflict |
| James Walmsley | Step after Step | War and Conflict |
| Afonso | Refugee | Cardinal Allen Catholic High School, Fleetwood |
| Marika Dawiczewska | Refuge | Cardinal Allen Catholic High School, Fleetwood |
| Josh Hirst | Out of War | Cardinal Allen Catholic High School, Fleetwood |
| Samuel Impett | refuge | Cardinal Allen Catholic High School, Fleetwood |
| Emily Lees | i wish it would disappear | Cardinal Allen Catholic High School, Fleetwood |
| Diyanjot Shoker | Refugees of the Holocaust | Cardinal Allen Catholic High School, Fleetwood |
| Hollie Swift | see the light again | Cardinal Allen Catholic High School, Fleetwood |
| Daisy Wareing | Refuge | Cardinal Allen Catholic High School, Fleetwood |
| Joshua Waring | Refuge | Cardinal Allen Catholic High School, Fleetwood |
| Amelie | Refuge | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Bonnie | Untitled | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Catherine | Untitled | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Christina | Forever Hope | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Eden | There once was a girl whose home was her safe place | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Eliza | Refugees | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Emily | Panic Attack | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Ethan | Untitled | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Eve | Refugee Poem | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Hollie | The travelling families | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Isabelle | I am Scared! | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Jack | Untitled | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Jacob | The grass is always greener | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Jasmina | I Never Wanted to Be A Refugee | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Jasmine | A Bomb in the night | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Josh | Refuge | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Julia | Refuge - Mum | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Julia | Escape to a safe place | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Katie | Untitled | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Lauren | Untitled | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Lily-Rose | Sound asleep night-mare | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Louisa | No-one Should Be A Refugee! | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Lucie | Refuge | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Lyra | Refugees | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Maizi | Stressed to Relax | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Naomi | Refuge | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Niamh | The Home with a small h. | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Oliver | Getting away from it all | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Poppy | Living in Refuge | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Sebastian | Untitled | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Sophia | Leaving home | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Spencer | The Sound of Sirens | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
| Tharlia | Untitled | Ripley St Thomas Academy, Lancaster |
