It’s been a year 2020-21
Georgie Hodges
It’s March 2020
A national lockdown has been announced.
Streets are empty.
And kids are knocking about
It’s April 2020
A couple more weeks in
Mum’s working from home and Dad’s on furlough,
The roof is leaky and income is low
I look from my window - and look at what is below...
Sunbathing, skipping and working from home
It’s May 2020
Yet another announcement,
Workers of capitalism go back to your stations
And again,
“The electrics are gone, call the council”
People are frustrated, they’re growing impatient
It’s June 2020
Haircuts on the Vauban, Gym sessions in the Close
And Dad’s been taken off of furlough
Money is tight,
2 teenage Brothers and a sister sharing a room,
It's just not right.
It’s July 2020
Blue flashing lights fill the street,
And sirens screech
“Get out, there’s a fire!”, neighbours warn
Smoke seeps through cracks and under the door.
It’s August 2020
Cranes tick, setting social cleansing in action.
The NHS is collapsing but Rishi’s got a “solution”
Eat out to help out, you can do your bit too...
Next time DON’T vote blue
It’s September 2020
Splish, splash, splosh
Kids on the estate play together - in the Vauban lido.
Being indoors for a year has been a real squash.
It's October 2020
And Dad's still looking for work.
From my window I see,
preparations are made for Halloween
It's November 2020
....
It’s December 2020
And it's a tight Christmas,
The year is almost over, we won’t miss this one.
It’s January 2021
Balcony celebrations, hopes of a better year.
A third lockdown is announced.
Another scandal, Chartwells
It’s February 2021
I’m tired of this shit,
A drippy roof,
Living like sardines,
Expected to work and function like machines
It’s March 2021
We are still in this situation,
There’s a housing crisis in Southwark - I'm sick of the stigmatisation.
We need more council housing, not privatisation.
A part of my final project includes an LED Matrix which will serve to communicate my connection with my area, initially this was going to discuss my connection through simple lines of text however, in a last minute decision, I've decided that this will be with a narrative poem instead.
The poem (currently a work in progress) is based on different notes I've taken in journaling across the year, and writes from a perspective which can apply to a variety of working class people living in areas which have been gentrified. It romanticises the lockdown experience whilst looking at the reality for many people who live in social housing, such as low income, disrepair and overcrowding.
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