This work was first published in Spread the Word’s Young Writers Collective Anthology, 2025. This anthology stands as a testament to the courage, creativity, and growth of a remarkable group of young poets who have spent seven months exploring the power of language and self-expression. The anthology is more than a collection of poems—it is a celebration of emerging voices, of stories told with boldness and vulnerability.
All of the poems can be read here on our website, or you can download the Young Writer’s Collective Anthology to read as a PDF.
HERE by Tilly Woof
Nothing moved,
Or removed
I’m here again
It stays the same
I used to hate it here
within the binding
Here pulls at me, tightly.
Trapping me within the rolling of its days,
with my wrists behind my back
my shallow breath in its hands.
I am here again
I keep coming back here.
I think I know here,
Here holds me, takes its time sitting
with me in its grasp.
I breathe
I am settled
I breathe once more
and I am here again
I like it here
within its perimeter.
I like the sounds and the colours,
Sparrows’ songs and sliding slopes,
I think here knows me
I think I’m known here
I think this is where I’m supposed to be.
Right?
About Tilly Woof
Tilly Woof (she/her), is a performer and writer. She specialises in writing plays and long form content. Tilly’s introduction to poetry began when she was asked to write a piece with Theatre Royal Stratford East (2022). She has successfully written two complete plays since 2022, with her third premiering at The Union Theatre, London, in early 2025. Topics covered by Tilly include; girlhood, grief, conscious asperity and the comedy in absurdity.