Untitled, by Charlie Atkey

Untitled Poem written by Charlie Atkey, one of our much loved volunteers, 1st April 2026.

📸 Holly Shuttleworth

Here is an abundance of gossamer bonds,

Potentialities mix and meet in this space:

Bordered, safe, open to the widest of skies,

Where ideas float like dandelion heads,

Synaptic connections proliferate,

& every interaction is a chosen experiment.

A community is brought into being,

Crosspollination & commingling of spirit:

Our hands in the earth, grasping at weed-stems,

Or cradling seedlings, settling them in,

We share our weakness, our foolishness, our unkempt delight -

Unguarded, willing to be challenged,

To be changed, to be sown, to be gathered:

We are compost, ripe & live,

teeming with buried energy,

Where hidden beings bring fruit unseen.

We give ourselves to the work, nurturing of life;

When tired, we rest, lying between the beds,

Canopy of rainbow chard or brassica leaf overhead;

& sometimes, we play - I push you in a wheelbarrow,

And we reclaim something that has been lost.