maps

a poetic walk across a London landscape

of memory, thought and imagination

































written individually and collaboratively by
Epi
Joe
Kaysar
Michael
Michael
Nicola
Stuart
Sumby

a collaborative project between Goldsmiths University and SHP Arlington Road


























Raised in London soil. Fed on flavours and memories past. Well-watered by the sweat
and tears of those gone before. Grown tall, if not quite straight. It is a soil rich and
varied. (Michael)

------

London, I love it
Not sure why
It’s in my very bones
Forever in my nostrils
Its taste upon my tongue
I am here old
I was here young
I’ve seen cold nights go
And felt warm days come (Michael)























Raised in London soil. The seasons are not right, global warming, I heard from the TV
that the planet has a hole in it. This weather should be cold and snowy. But it’s not. It
looks like summer time. It’s t-shirt weather for everyone. I can grow and grill anything.
That’s why I trained as a chef. I can work in any oven. (Kaysar)

------

We are here because there is no refuge finally from ourselves
Until we confront ourselves
In the eyes and hearts of others
We are running

Where else in our common ground
Can we find such a mirror?

Here at least we appear clearly to ourselves
Not the giant of our dreams nor the dwarf of our fears
But as people. (Joe)
A plate so big I was scared to eat
My dad was a chef
I learn from him
My food can’t taste like his
Sometimes like my mums but
Never like my dad’s
I miss my dad
Now I’m in problems like...
Lamb curry lamb chowder
So beautiful tasty
All secrets inside
I copied the spice,
followed his instructions but
His secrets are inside
My lamb chowder
I have cigarettes and bad stuff
Drugs
Different from his
The last time I saw my dad in 2012
I told him I’m alright
He said take every plate
That everything was in my hands (Kaysar)
Raised in London soil, beneath me is earth, soil in London is somewhere else
Raised above my life:
Tomorrow is darkness and yet I will rise again –
Do not forget my ghost in the soil (Michael W)

------

I never knew I had it
A family
I never knew I had it
to see with
my own eyes
to see someone; I knew
Now has gone
To thank God
I’m alive
my wish is to decide
sometimes it’s difficult (Michael W)



This is a roundhouse, a spiral. You can only hear echoes. A crazy house, full of kindness.
Peace is the colour blue. I put my glasses on to watch the cricket. Grey kindness. A flick
of outside. Vile monkey. Edam is red, soft and from Holland. I eat it with biscuits.
Football crazy, football mad. (Michael Walsh)

------

Table off my mess.
My life is sitting in disarray.
The mountain knows no order, but maybe that is how it is meant to be,
How I have to see,
Nothing on the table without the people
Table food mother and father
I put food on the table
What if there was no table
The food then no food, no table
No column, no support, unable
(Collaborative)
I went to the Roundhouse to see a flick, a film about a monkey who played cricket and
football. But it soon turned into a crazy house. I had eaten tagliatelle with cheese
beforehand and it was vile. I felt a little sick and my mind was in a spiral, all sound
seemed to echo.I turned grey, fainted and broke my glasses. A young lady showed me
great kindness and helped me to my feet. (Michael)

------

I never knew I had it. Nothing comes to my mind, just alcohol, that comes to my mind. I
have to go to my mum. I just want to see my children. I want to look for a job but can’t
stand up for six hours without drinking. Without drink I can’t. I don’t want to have it.
IKIS today. I just sleep in my room and I do nothing. They think I passed away. I got pain
I know that. If I have alcohol, I be safe. I don’t like water, I don’t like the plane. All I do I
just sleep in my room. And I’m bored. (Kaysar)
What is it that will bring me peace?
In the current confusion of my life
What is it that will bring me peace?
Ease, comfort or sharp knife
Sunday is peace, the day we take rest.
If only the rest of the week could be a
bit more like a Sunday.
Butter, time to melt. (Collaborative)

------

I never knew I had it. I never saw it, neither felt it, not suspected it. I never knew I had it
but I did or so I was told, others had seen it, others knew it and had even felt it. “How
long ago did you know this”, “why had no one mentioned it before”.
Had it always been obvious in plain view to everyone – I am, was I the only one in the
dark – the only one who didn’t knew – didn’t see, didn’t feel. (Michael)
It’s another day the weather might be the same but for me the weather in my heart is
the same – variable, tooing and froing, this way and that
I try to get going, winding myself up with the aid of the radio. I awake and liven up with
the beat of the song.
Breakfast helps. And I am nearly ready to leave the house and face the world. (Sumby)

------

Thames once again we meet on a rainy day –
Let’s hope on a summer day
Still, Londoners rush around as though time might suddenly stop
Busy lives, quick to drop
Riding on a bus, or a train, I can see everything. Beautiful people.
Busy at their morning tasks
What they are, no other asks. (Collaborative)
I’m a football player. I’ve been to the Roundhouse and seen an elephant and lion there. I
love cricket. I was playing and the ball hit my eye. I love spices with cheese. I can cook
any food. But if I had tagliatelle, it would need lots of chilli and cheese to make it better!
If you don’t like spices you can’t have a curry! No salt, no taste. (Kaysar)

------

Umbrella, sheltering me from the greyness of the day
Keeping the cold sharp rain at bay
Keep me dry, keep me warm
Be it drizzle, be it storm.
Put on my hat, going out in the rain,
Walking in the rain, it doesn’t smell like
anything, ticking like a clock if it’s fast.
Upside down, I am a collector, a bowl for all her recycled water -
fill me Earth (Collaborative)
A celebration of the garden
Day by day, the garden is growing,
the different plants, today, tomorrow.
This is cabbage – like this.
Sometimes I take an apple, I eat it!
and a tomato, a new one!
The garden makes me very happy
because I forget.
I make a new situation, to remember
in my memory where I am, what I am doing,
why I am in the garden.
When I see the fruit I compare them with me,
how they are growing, how they are good,
how they make me happy.
Not watching, thinking about why we
follow the plants, why the winter is there.
I made seeds, covered the seeds with Earth,
when I came back, they are long time there.
Before, now.
Mouse, bird.
Two mouse go on a plant, taking an apple and eating,
I sometimes take an apple and eat.
When I see a mouse doing the same, I think we have same imagination -
scratch it, eat! I say eh! The mouse is like me! (Epi)
Apple crumble may tumble
Warner bros is familiar
With flowers still something
To study remains/history? (Michael)
Green, he was never so – grass
Grass – he was never so – endangered
The leaves in the jungle swish and sway
A fox running around, playing in the park,
a pigeon flying in the sky
Lying here, on the ground
Some soft, short grass I have found.
But what if it was no longer here
Would I find some other near? (Collaborative)
Apple
Tumbles
With in
Flowers
Something
to Study
Still remains
A history
Apple crumble
Still a Jack
Dawe! (Michael W)

------

The Cycle of Life
When in the garden I was aware of the fallen leaves in the gutter of the greenhouse. It’s
autumn and the prominent colour is brown. A few months ago it would have been
green. The leaves are dead but the tree still lives, to once again grow leaves. On the
ground two small red flowers poke through the blanket of leaves, reminding us there is
still life in abundance around us. The garden is peaceful but the sounds of the city can be
heard in the distance: the hum of cars. The peace is disturbed only by the sound of a
siren. (Stuart)
Apple pie!
Crumbling into the mixture
May they enjoy it and warm their hearts
Tumble around the kitchen looking for the utensils
Is the rest of the dinner roasting away well in the oven?
Familiar surroundings
With everyone in and out of the kitchen, the hub of the home.
Flowers in the vase on the kitchen table
Still there is someone missing from this family scene
Something that is felt but unsaid
To the kids, it’s not obvious
Study the adults’ faces and it’s there like an elephant in the room.
Remains of her are all around the house – she was the glue in the family
History keeps writing itself
Still, life will continue, new memories will be made and her blood runs in the veins of
her children and grandchildren
A chance meeting, changed the course of this family
Jack was his name
Dawn will break again and again.
And the kitchen will still be full of laughter and fun and fighting! (Sumby)
Colours, BBQs, smells
Peaceful aware taking time
Wildlife look behind you little
Smoke may be behind you in
Light and shade; something
To study take your time.
Welcoming BBQs sparkle
remains a history – used to be
A pub, do cat smokey and
Kittens remain? Is it wildlife
or sirens or just grass or
Light and shade!
Little cat taking time forgetting
The tree of life (Michael W)

-----

When you have one foot in the past and one foot in the future you are pissing on the
present and the present is called that because it is a present from life (Nicola)
The garden breathes, I breathe.
I breathe and take in the smells, the noise and daylight.
I love the sun on my face. The calmness it brings.
My body relaxes. Summer is my favourite time there. Seeing the birds, the new flowers
and bees hovering around. The noises from the town get inhaled in then thrown out. I
try to rejuvenate myself as much as possible before going back indoors to the computer
screen that awaits me. Always calling me. As I leave, I take my final breath, a big sigh
and try to remember the sun on my face. (Sumby)

------

If life throws a party join in the parade
If life gives you lemons make lemonade

Sometimes life is difficult
Sometimes it makes you sad
Sometimes it seems impossible
To see things aren’t that bad

But try to see things differently

Though the clouds may fill the sky
The sun is always there (Stuart)
Smell the roses my mumma said!
The grass is always greener on the other side
Mind the gap when crossing that bridge
Remember to treat others as you wish to be treated
Life is always happy with music in your heart
Be honest be truthful and no matter what
When life chucks lemons at you make
Lemonade and share with your loved
Ones and spread the sweetness in life (Nicola)

------

Green, he was never so – grass
Grass – he was never so – endangered
The leaves in the jungle swish and sway
A fox running around, playing in the park,
a pigeon flying in the sky
Lying here, on the ground
Some soft, short grass I have found.
But what if it was no longer here
Would I find some other near? (Collaborative)
Tomorrow
I am now into a space I have never seen
Soon I’ll be back again: my garden is green
I walk and talk and sometimes whether (?) I will walk
To trees and meadows to listen to tomorrow

The wine is good and so it should
So light as a feather
My friend is moonlight and a star
A journey so far

So much my about myself
For now I’ll put it on the shelf
Delete my me: I will turn this tablet like milk and honey
Like a sea I’ll roar again
Unto a wave
I will be calm until
A storm rises again (Michael)