Congratulations to Helen who won our Poetry competition and a £20 book voucher.

Thank you to everyone who entered. You can read all the poems in The Hope Foundation cafe or download them here. 

Time (for a change)

Rushing around from A to B,

Doing the things that make me, me.

Writing down lists and ticking off jobs,

My husband he waits for a crumb like a dog.

In my marriage a ghost, I am there but not present.

His vows he took then but has grown to resent.

A husband who’s life I have selfishly wasted,

Who deserves the gold but only got plated.

When I was younger I pitied women too busy

To take time for themselves, who really is she?

Mother, worker, cook, cleaner

Where has she gone? when’s the last time you’d seen her?

Now it is me who’s been swallowed by duty

Too tired from work to be anything fruity.

I look in the mirror; the sparkle has gone

I’m in there somewhere; the girl I was once.

But find her I must; it’s been far too long

My husband I must; join in his sweet song.

For life’s not a game; we’re only here once

It would be such a shame to only get bronze.

What will I have at the end of my list?

All tasks complete but my face in a twist.

If no changes are made, a life of regret

Will be laid before me on my death-bed.

For life is for living and not just existing

I’m not just a mam or a cook in the kitchen.

I’m a woman with talents and a glint in her eye

At the end, no regrets – I will end on a high!