Transport for London (TfL) brings live poetry readings to Covent Garden station on Monday 3 June, to mark six new poems to be featured on Underground, Overground and Elizabeth line trains this summer.
Writer and poet, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, will read his poem, ‘By Yourself Boy… (1988-2007)’ and Imtiaz Dharker, co-director of Poems on the Underground will read her poem, ‘Carving’ at 11:30 outside the front of the station.
Parkes’ poem is one of six poems selected by Poems on the Underground for this summer:
By Yourself, Boy. . . (1988-2007)
Nat King Cole’s on the TV staring hard at his audience,
his hands setting up plays while he sings. Ray Charles
said he sang so damn well people forgot how good he was
on keys, and I see it now; his right hand stuffs a melody
down the grand piano’s throat – that’s the fake – he dribbles
the sound down to low notes until you expect the left hand
to come in lower. That’s when he breaks mould, hustles
his left hand over the right, throws high notes into your ear
-crossover, up, swish. Now the trash talk it’s better to be
by yourself boy… He smiles like the silent men on my tapes
and, suddenly, every move has a name, a sound, a history.
Nii Ayikwei Parkes
Later this month, trains on the Tube, Overground and Elizabeth line networks will feature a new selection of works with Poems on the Underground. The 117th collection of poems to be published explores themes of music and seasons – reflecting the diversity of human experience. A poem from the 13th century sits alongside more contemporary poems from Azita Ghahreman, Benjamin Zephaniah, and Don Paterson.
Mark Evers, TfL’s Chief Customer Officer, said: “We know our customers love to read the poems featured on our trains, so these special live readings at Covent Garden station with leading poets will be a huge hit with visitors and commuters on the day. Poems on the Underground has been delighting and inspiring customers travelling for almost 40 years, and we hope our customers enjoy the latest set of poems launching on our network this summer.”
Poet Nii Ayikwei Parkes, said: “Having grown up in a West African culture that values community, it is always an unparalleled honour when my poems are chosen to be part of Poems on the Underground, especially because the Underground is such a pivotal means of transport in London, carrying thousands of locals and tourists daily. It tells me that my art has not lost its connection to the real world, and it gives me great comfort to know that someone’s dull day might be brightened by looking up to read my work.”
Poet Imtiaz Dharker, said: “It was a great moment for me when my poem, ‘Carving,’ went up on the London Underground and now it’s as exciting to see each new set of poems coming up, new work from living poets as well as old favourites. These Poems on the Underground give us a moment of stillness on a busy commute, something we need now more than ever. It still stops me in my tracks when I see them or see someone else reading one.
“It was such a brilliant idea from Judith Chernaik, Cicely Herbert and Gerard Benson and that’s why it is still loved almost 40 years later.”
Poems on the Underground has delighted millions of commuters, tourists and Londoners since the first posters appeared on the London Underground in 1986. In February, the archive of Poems on the Underground, which includes posters, eclectic memorabilia and letters from poets over the past century, was donated to Cambridge University Library, home to the archives of Siegfried Sassoon, Anne Stevenson and other renowned poets.
