The Loop : The e-guide to what's on in Macclesfield listings music art to do

This Is What We Do

If we were whales, we'd do this underwater:
meeting in a circle of sea-monoliths
a slow deep gathering of singing philosophers.

If we were apes - as we so nearly are -
we'd convene in the jungle canopies
a shrieking parliament of fruit and grooming.

But since we're human, what we need
to feed our appetites is carrot cake and Nora Jones;
ukuleles, geisha clowns and noodles;
forests of silk flags, and seas of sundrenched skin.

Since we're human, what we need is to keep each other close;
to gather somewhere we can play at being
nothing but ourselves.

The words of Jo Bell, Poet, boater, archeologist and procrastinator. The organiser of National Poetry Day across the UK, the Bugged Project and here, poet in residence at the Glastonbury Festival. Visit www.glastonburyfestival.com for this poem in full and other such insightful words.