This year's website Poet in Residence is
Longfella, aka Tony Walsh. Tony will be writing poems for the website throughout the Festival weekend, just as Jo Bell
did last year.
Tony will be tweeting from the Festival - you can follow him at
@LongfellaPoet. Tony's also hoping to crowd-source a poem which will be posted here on the website and performed at the Festival. To get involved, simply tweet him a Glastonbury memory, completing the sentence "The moment when..." in 8 words or less, using the hashtag #glastopoet.
Thursday June 23
Ten Things That I Learned Today at Glastonbury: Wednesday.
1. The weather is ALWAYS gorgeous.
2. Putting pole A into slot B then pole C into slots D and E can be helped by the using swear word F.
3. If your tent cost less than £12 then iiiiit's probably going to leak, dude.
4. Yes, we CAN hear you having sex. And we're marking you out of ten. You scored two, mate. As you appeared to be on your own.
5. I want to go to Poonarnia.
6. Ladies! Short shorts and flowery wellies is a very good look. Gentlemen! Not so much.
7. It's not that interesting behind the Pyramid stage. But there is a big zebra. And a giraffe. And a rhino. (I'm not sure if they're plastic or very highly trained.)
8. If you fall full length in the mud then it's very wet. And it hurts. And people laugh. A lot.
9. (M&S voice) This isn't just any old mud. This is prime Somerset organic dairy farm mud. With cow shit in.
10. This place is amazing.
NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT
We're grateful to the people who keep safety in the queues
We're grateful to the first aid folk who'll help you with a bruise
We're grateful to the guys who sell the psychedelic booze
But let's hear it for the guys who lose our poos!
We're grateful to the guys who keep fresh water in the taps
(Do you see where we're going here?)
We're grateful to those famous painted naked dancing chaps
We're grateful to the bloke who puts an ostrich on our baps (Are you sure?)
But let's hear it for the chaps who zap our craps!
We're grateful to the squads of bods who pick up all the litter
We're grateful to the people who put feta on our pitta
We're grateful to the lady wearing only silver glitter
But let's hear it for the guys who shine the shitters!
We're grateful to the comics for their humour and their wit (You're ahead of me now!)
We're love the pyromaniacs who keep the night times lit
I love my camping neighbour too, the noisy, selfish git
But let's hear it for the shamen of the shit!
We're grateful to the dairy team who've moved all Michael's herds
We're grateful for the 4am dawn chorus of the birds
We're grateful to the poets for the beauty of their words (Like these!)
But let's hear it for the A-team of the turds
We're grateful to the artisans for sharing crafts and hobbies
We're grateful to the gang of lads all dressed as Mr Blobby's
We're grateful to the stewards and the good old British bobbies
But let's hear it for the top job with the jobbies!
We're grateful to the people who do all the pretty lights
We're grateful to the artists for their carnival delights
We're grateful to the crazies for so many stunning sites
But let's hear it for the plight of those
The basic human rights of those
The musn't be quite right of those, the guys who shift our shite!
Saturday June 18
To kick things off, Tony (who's a Festival regular) has written a terrific poem, entitled
'Why Glastonbury?'. Check it out below (photos and video by
Rohan van Twest).
As well as his daily poems, Tony will be tweeting from the Festival - you can follow him at
@LongfellaPoet. Tony's also hoping to crowd-source a poem which will be posted here on the website and performed at the Festival. To get involved, simply tweet him a Glastonbury memory, completing the sentence "The moment when..." in 8 words or less, using the hashtag #glastopoet.
Tony will be performing on the
Poetry&Words stage at 6.30pm on Friday and 12.50pm on Sunday. You can check out more of his work on his website, at
longfella.co.uk.
Here is the text for the poem above...
WHY GLASTONBURY
G is for the green fields, and for grining in the queues.
L is for that long walk with your luggage and your booze.
A is for the atmosphere, it's awesome, always fun and
S is for the sun rise. And the sunsets. And the sun.
T is for the toilets and the traffic and the tents.
O is for outrageous and for Oh! My! God! events and
N is for the night time filled with naughtiness, insane and
B is beer and burgers, bongos banging in your brain and
U is uuurgh! 'Ungover but you're up until you drop and
R is righteous rock n roll and raving round the clock and
Y could be for youth, it could be yoga in a yurt but
Y is why they do this. Why we come back every year.
Why? Because it's built on love. We find it in ourselves.
And while we're feeling loved up we love everybody else.
And Oxfam, Greenpeace, Wateraid and all the other causes
teach that people loving people is the strongest of resources.
So why don't we share lessons from this special time together?
And why don't we ask why more? And why can't things change forever?
And so why don't we resolve here now that Glastonbury's flames
will light a thousand beacons and ignite the sparks of change!
And so why don't we grow wings here as a mighty flock of doves
With a single word to change the world and that simple word is love!
I said why don't we take strength here as a mighty flock of doves
With a single word to change the world and that simple word is love!
I said why don't we take flight here as a mighty flock of doves
With a single word to change the world and that simple word is love!
And we'll burn and soar like lanterns with a smile on every face
We'll take heart but leave a piece here. It's so hard to leave no trace.
And that's why there is a part of us that stays here when we're gone.
And that's why it's always special in these Fields of Avalon.
(Spread the love, Glastonbury. Spread the love.)
(Peace!)
More...
2011 website Poet in Residence
