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Artists
Marged Tudur comes from Morfa Nefyn, and now lives in Caernarfon. A graduate in Welsh from Aberystwyth University, she received an MA in Creative Writing and was awarded a PhD for her study on reading lyrics from Welsh pop songs from the last fifty years as literature. Her debut collection, Mynd (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2020) won the poetry award at Wales Book of the Year 2021. She works as an editor.
Ffion Campbell-Davies is a multidisciplinary artist and Associate Director of House Of Absolute. Born and raised in Wales, Welsh speaking, non binary gender fluid with mixed Grenadian heritage. Graduate of London Contemporary Dance School and California Institute of the Arts. Ffion works collaboratively and as solo artist with voice, text, poetry, visual and digital art. From Contemporary, Hip hop and Krump to indigenous expressions of femininity and deity embodiment, with influences of holistic therapy and martial arts. Working with music and film production, experimental art and exhibitionism. Exploring humanitarian politics, psychoanalysis, body language and spirituality, within the contexts of race, gender, culture & identity. Creating through ritual, expressing aspects of the human experience, bridging spaces of ancestral empowerment locally and internationally.
Poem
Ffitio
Mae hi’n cofio meddwl bod rhywbeth ddim yn iawn,
cofio cwestiynu be oedd yn wahanol,
cofio bod yn anghyffyrddus,
cofio dyheu i deimlo’n saff,
cofio gwneud ei hun yn fach fach
fel trio gwasgu ei chorff i gorset.
come as I am
Mae’r atgofion yn byw yn ei gwely,
maen nhw’n setlo dan ei hewinedd,
maen nhw’n casglu’n glympiau ar flew ei hamrannau,
maen nhw’n eistedd ar ei glin wrth iddi fwyta,
maen nhw’n gwthio penelin i’w chefn ar yr Underground,
maen nhw’n gadael ôl eu dannedd ar ei gwddw.
come as I am come as I am
come as I am
Ond mae hi’n diosg yr het ddaffodil,
smyjo ‘Ein tad yr hwn wyt yn y nefoedd’ ar ei gwefusau,
rowlio’r polo neck i lawr,
tynnu’r trowsus one size fits all,
datod careiau ‘Cymraeg ar y coridorau’
er mwyn gallu come as I am.
Mae hi’n ymestyn crib ei hysgwydd
nes i’w chyhyrau glicio i’w lle,
mae hi’n taflu ei dwylo i’r awyr
nes bod ei bysedd yn anwesu’r copaon,
mae hi’n llacio’r asgwrn lleiaf un
nes daw sŵn afonydd i ffrydio yn ei chlust.
Yna, mae hi’n taenu’r tir amdani,
gosod y mynyddoedd o gylch ei phen,
clymu canghennau am ei breichiau,
mwytho’r creigiau a’r cloddiau ar ei chluniau,
lapio’r cymoedd a’r dyffrynnoedd am ei choesau
a gwisgo gwlad sy’n ei ffitio hi.
Dyma fi’n dod.
/
Fitting
She remembers thinking something wasn’t right,
she remembers questioning what was different,
she remembers feeling uncomfortable,
she remembers wanting to feel safe,
she remembers making herself small
like trying to squeeze her body into a corset.
come as I am
The memories live in her bed,
they settle under her nails,
they form clumps on her eyelashes,
they sit on her lap as she eats,
their elbows dig into her ribs on the Underground,
they leave teeth marks on her neck.
come as I am come as I am
come as I am
But she removes the daffodil hat,
smudges ‘Ein Tad, yr hwn wyt yn y nefoedd’* on her lips,
rolls down the polo neck,
takes off the one size fits all trousers,
unties the knots of ‘Cymraeg ar y coridorau’*
so she can come as I am.
She extends the ridge of her shoulder
until her muscles click into place,
she throws her hands up to the sky
until her fingers stroke the peaks,
she relaxes the tiniest of bones
until the sound of rivers stream in her ears.
Then, she spreads the land all over herself,
crowns the mountains on her head,
ties branches around her arms,
caresses her hips with the rocks and banks,
wraps the valleys around her legs
and wears a country that fits her.
Here I come.
* ‘Ein Tad yr hwn wyt yn y nefoedd’ – ‘Our Father who art in heaven’
* ‘Cymraeg ar y coridorau’ – ‘Welsh on the corridors’