Below is a poem written by Scott Farlow in response to conversations during workshops at Heald Farm Court and Heald Farm on 13th December 2021.

The Cosy Jumper is a project exploring human feelings of connections and togetherness, through knitting, poetry, sound, and movement. Lou Chapelle will hold a series of workshops that will lead to the creation of a video which will be presented in the public realm in January 2022. The Cosy Jumpers is a commission by Heart of Glass, working with Taurus Housing, residents from Foundry Wharf, and U3A, and inspired by a previous project: You make me feel good. Funded by Arts Council England, Creative People and Places program.

Artistic director Lou Chapelle
Film-maker Tim Brunsden
Sound artist Laura Campbell
Poet Scott Farlow
Choreographer Stacey Atkinson

THE MESSENGERS

Stories live through us.

We carry them.

We might feel some of them.

But not all.

Many are re-shaped,

Reformed,

Retold perhaps,

Whilst others remain in silent slumber,

Through our living

And being

And breathing.

In the holding, and by their re-telling,

New ones are made; if only they would listen.

Our stories and stories of stories grow;

Their threads become interwoven,

And passed on – even to the deaf, the dying and the dormant –

And back into the earth.

And out towards the stars.

Memories are discoveries,

Reminders of the past, the present and the future,

Of who we are, where we have been and where we are going,

We remain both moved and unmoved.

And, if we listen, we are reconciled to who we are.

We are bound together

Through our attachments and trust,

In our needs and desires to reach out and touch,

To be touched and be moved,

To speak and be heard,

To feel, to breathe,

To remember and share,

To learn and to know what it is

To be human

And connected.

Written for The Cosy Jumper Huggers

In response to our conversations on 13th December 2021.