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.
What Dumb Luck by Tilly Woof
He never taught me how to hold
to bare my bones, open my wounds.
He never taught me nothin’.
I made myself plain for him,
a sponge to merely absorb.
But he didn’t like sponges.
‘It feels weird’
He is right.
I cannot carry this alone,
and he will not carry it for me.
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.