FAITH IN THE COMMUNITY: This poetry can make you safer
By Stephen Dominy, Energy Adviser, Good Neighbours Network
THE Big Screen in Guildhall Square will be filled with poetry this Thursday - October 2nd.
From 7am until 11pm, words from 22 local spoken-word artists will be streamed as part of In Our Words, a project by Portsmouth Creates to mark World Poetry Day.
I’m delighted that my own poem, Get Alarmed, will be among them, albeit I’ll be performing under my stage name of PG Trips. It’s an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek piece about carbon monoxide – not the most obvious subject for poetry, perhaps, but one that matters to all of us.
Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas that can build up if boilers, stoves or fires aren’t properly maintained, or if chimneys and flues become blocked. It can cause serious illness, and in some cases, it kills. Because it can’t be seen, heard or smelt, it’s often called the “silent killer”.
That’s why I chose to write about it – not just as a poet, but as part of my everyday work with the Good Neighbours Network. Backed by the Church of England and based in the offices of the Diocese of Portsmouth, the Good Neighbours Network supports people across Hampshire with practical advice to keep warm, save money and stay safe.
One of the simplest steps you can take is to fit carbon monoxide alarms in your home. If you rent, your landlord should already have provided them. But if you own your home, it’s something worth doing straight away.
You should place alarms a few metres from gas appliances, fires or stoves, and check the batteries regularly. They don’t last forever – most need replacing every seven years.
In my poem, I play with the idea that carbon monoxide is such a dull way to die that it’s almost insulting. Why let something so preventable cut your story short? Installing an alarm means you can get on with living life to the full – instead of worrying about what you can’t see.
If you need alarms, the Good Neighbours Network can help. You can order up to three free alarms for your household by visiting: www.goodneighbours.org.uk/positiveenergy.
Sometimes poetry is just about expression. But sometimes it can promote action – and if a few words on a Big Screen can help keep our community safer, then that’s a verse worth sharing.
GOOD NEIGHBOURS NETWORK, First Floor, Peninsular House, Wharf Road, Portsmouth, PO2 8HB