Literacy as Freedom: 'Needs'

I trust everyone has been following the wonderful anonymous sculptor @_freetofly_ on Twitter?!

If you haven’t, all is not lost. You can catch up with what’s been happening here.

The theme of the new work is ‘Literacy as Freedom’ and more than 500 Twitterers (?!) have been having loads of fun selecting favourite books to stock a magical library and talking about what libraries mean to us.

Now, we’ve to tweet @_freetofly_ with statements about what ‘Literacy as Freedom’ means to us personally, which will be used as the tags on the forthcoming sculptures. Very exciting!

Our lovely sculptor is still anonymous. She has, nevertheless, revealed some tiny clues about herself and imaginative souls will undoubtedly be creating a whole character round these.

Although we completely respect her desire for anonymity, Sheena felt that it was all very well writing poems to celebrate the individual sculptures, but rather remiss not to screive a poem as a tribute to _@freetofly_  - their extremely talented, witty and erudite creator.

I hope we won't get skelped!

Needs

Every library should have a resident cat

(So sleek and so silent, so silky, so wise)

Named Old Jellylorum or Coricopat,

Or like Alice’s Cheshire…a smile and two eyes.

All artists and writers should have as their perks

The finest of coffee - Gold Blend! - in a mug

And a bagful of malted milk biscuits to munch

As they laugh on the bus making others cry ‘Ugh!

You can tell she’s creative, she speaks to thin air
And the bees in her bonnet have hatched in her hair!’

By buildings, in gardens, near shopping parades

Is that rustling paper… or wind in the trees?

The prose may be merry, or evil as spades

A serious reader keeps turning the leaves.

Oh, the freedom to step into literature’s land!

The only things needed, a book and your mind

The words light the touchpaper - find Samarkand

Leave the everyday streets and their sorrows behind! 

© Sheena Blackhall, 2013