Write Out Loud took to the road on Saturday at the Moonraking festival in Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire, with our first ever pedal-powered poetry event – the Pedal-Powered Pop-Up Poetry tent. The success of the event relied on passers-by and volunteers to pedal our two fixed bikes which generate the power needed to operate a sound system. We were ably supported by a group of local teenagers who pedalled tirelessly throughout the afternoon.

An important part of the Write Out Loud event was to present some of the work poet and educator Louise Fazackerley had produced and inspired from her workshops in Clough Head, Wellhouse and Wilberlee junior and infant schools in the weeks leading up to the festival. The children’s poems were on display in the poetry tent.

Local poet and teacher Jack Faricy rose to the challenge of the lunar-themed open mic, contributing a poem he had penned that morning using only letters found in the words ‘Slaithwaite Moonraking’:

 

SLAITHWAITE MOONRAKING

by Jack Faricy

 

It’s late night

In ink-like water

A team keen to slay thirsts

Sneaks with rakes

to hook the moon’s loot

Eons later

A northern light trail

Marks this tale

The ethos is egalitarian

We make things

The work it takes is all worthwhile

When the lanterns go on show

Trains, snakes, mannequins, minions

Ogres, otters, lions

Lemons, hats, herons, hawks, hares

Name it

it is there

One son, mine

Will light an onion

The real loot is the mir

of warmth we share

In the streets we ignite

 

Jack said that he was particularly pleased with the word “egalitarian” - an impressive find!

At the end of the afternoon, Louise was whisked away to take part in the main procession. She said: “Some of the highlights for me included seeing so many teenagers involved at the Pedal Powered Pop-Up Poetry tent, talking to people about eco-friendly sound production and hearing the superb poem from the teacher.

“It was exciting to create a poetry flash mob with over 300 people of all ages reciting the ‘February Moon’ poem and dancing moon moves. The poetry flash mob took the first two lines from Brenda Hillman’s experimental poem ‘December Moon’  - a contemporary poet who understands that there is still room for innovation in poetry.

“I hope more festivals, parades and community celebrations find space for pop-up poetry and poetry flash mobs!”