As part of Spread the Word’s Lewisham, Borough of Literature campaign, four local writers were commissioned to create new work under the theme, ‘To All The Places I have Read’. The commissions were for writers of poetry or short stories, are aged 18+, currently living in Lewisham and from underrepresented backgrounds.
The Borough of Literature Commissions were printed, alongside Emerging Writer and Deaf and Disabled Writer commissions, in the Deptford Literature Fesitval Anthology.
208 From Lewisham Station to Orpington, Perry Hall Road by Amii Griffith
Top deck, front seat, by the window
Kids in backpacks two sizes too big
A baby cries to be heard in the din
After school chicken and chips drifts in the air
Aunties rustle blue plastic housing market stall wares
A journey through my life playing out the window pane
Sit back on the 208 the show is about to begin
Lewisham Fire Station
Transported back to 2009
Sweet smelling strawberry daquiris
Stone cold from the slushy machine
Late nights to heavy music pulsating through my body
I lean in for a kiss
She wants to dance again
The dragon eyes my disappointment
Bromley Road / Lewisham Town Hall
Transported back to 2001
And every time since and before then
Now a hollow building hallowed
Pentecostal mouths sing praise
But not the altar I worship at
The silver screen made promises for me
And I still dream of them today
Catford Bus Garage
Transported back to 2003
Smelling burnt skin on mosquito bites
Soothed with cool aloe vera
From the land my ancestors toiled
Sav-la-Mar to Charmaine Scott
We look pretty now, yes?
Bobble band plaits straighten with a european glance
Ashgrove Road
Transported back to 2004
Or was it 2005
McDonald’s breakfasts and walks down to stop DA
She would carry our drinks – hot chocolate sweet
Protect them as much as she protected me
In cold winter ice paths
Snowball fights turned violent
This world my sister’s enemy
To all the places I have read
To all the places that have read me
To all the places that have raised me
The 208 – Divination of my destiny
About Amii Griffith
Amii is a Lewisham-born multidisciplinary writer who has been working across stage and screen for over a decade. Amii won the Lewisham, Borough of Culture 2022 Your Words Your Lyrics Your Story spoken word competition and was recently published in Middleground Magazine for poets of mixed heritage. She has performed at the Actors’ Church for a celebration of Noël Coward works, the Blue Plaque unveiling of Richard Price and Catford Pride. Amii is a Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab alumni and Film London short film fund recipient. She recently graduated from Goldsmiths with a masters in Script Writing and is currently on the BFI funded Trans+ on Screen script writers’ development lab.