Indifferent and Malignant

I’m indifferent

I’m malignant
I’m arrogant
I’m ignorant
I’m angry and bitter,
touch me and I’ll hit ya.

I hate your views
I hate the news
I hate feeling amused,
I don’t want to smile and neither you too.

Stop laughing and dancing, it puts me in a mood
I feel rotten and trodden on, even a bit used
but I’ll stay this way, never going to change
head down, heart heavy for another bloody day
seeing no other way, so I shall continue,
all the way to me grave.

by Valerie Statham-Sprod

This poem was written when I was living and working at a contemporary dance and performance center on the borders of Germany and Poland. Having been set-up by a group of squatters who formerly lived in Berlin, the center formed part of a community lying in the quiet countryside of East Germany. Surrounded by some of the most liberated, artistic, and progressive people I have ever met I suddenly began to feel incredibly square and conservative, it was a shock, I’d never felt that way before. I wrote this poem there and also performed it at their 4-hour ‘performance marathon’. Mine was the only spoken word performance and they were incredibly supportive.

Amateur and enthusiast for most things, a wide-reaching skill set which has been acquired in many peculiar ways. Currently studying Anthropology & Media at Goldsmiths. Hailing from Bristol ways, yet somehow I have avoided acquiring the much-beloved Bristolian accent. Poetical forces who inspire me - Gil Scot Heron, Jim Morrison, Raymond Queneau, Tony Walsh, and many others.

Instagram- @val.is.clumsy