The commissioned poets gathered together the words of the people they’d spoken with on the high streets to create a poem each for Hanwell, Oldfields Circus, and Pitshanger Lane. While these poems are by Shagufta Iqbal, Mr Gee, and Laurie Bolger, they contain the voices of the high street.
You can read the three poems below (or download a PDF). See if you can spot the words in these poems that made it into the installation!
The Village in the City
The shutters roll up, metallic bright against the morning.
The hot coffee warming your hands at the start of the day,
cutting through the frost, that you stamp out at bus stops.
You pass through on your daily commute.
You pop in for a pint of milk, or the brewer’s drop.
The famous tower and its clock.
You stroll and spend hours, after school drop offs.
The lunch dates,
the Friday night takeaways,
the lamb joint for a Sunday roast,
the bright bloom of bouquets,
the ink spill against skin,
the fresh fade,
the reinvent me bob and highlights,
the new abaya for Ramadan,
and the famous Hanwell Hootie.
Even the celebrations at home
start on the humble high street.
It’s alive and kicking. Not without grit.
Some good old-fashioned rolling up of sleeves
and plenty of heart.
The music, the flavours, the languages,
this is the village in the city.
From hundreds of years old
to the latest Opening Soon sign.
Here’s to the independent trader,
who knows your usual.
Asks how’s your mum?
We haven’t seen her in a while.
By Shagufta Iqbal (2025), based on conversations on the high street in Hanwell.
Oldfield Circus: Lessons in Love,
Different communities working together,
We marvel at how far we all have come,
People with mixed emotions form a purple mirror,
And Oldfield Circus teaches reflection well,
Lesson No 1:
Life is hard,
We all work to provide for our families,
This is the tradition found behind every shop’s door
For without a foundation, nothing gets built,
Lesson No 2:
Everybody has different points of view
Different stories, different styles, different voices,
And Guess what?
Our fingerprints are different too!
But greetings and farewells eternally rest,
Within the palm of all our hands,
Lesson No 3:
Our Children reflect what they see,
They will have to make their own choices,
And face a new world built on past mistakes,
Our version of Oldfield will only exist in their memories,
For one day my friend, we too shall be gone,
So Time is our only home and Now holds our foundation,
Let’s improve the moments we share together,
Everything is either Love
Or a cry for Love (lesson No 4),
Love your family,
Love your environment,
Love yourself,
And cry no more,
By Mr Gee (2025), based on conversations on the high street at Oldfields Circus.
High Street Poem
orange are the bricks
white crush is the blossom in the spring
all the colour of the rainbow are the traders here
the sky is a tucking-us-in-again
a parent is teaching their kid to sing
someone buys an orange at the greengrocer for dry lips
in the summer the blossom is spectacular
but maybe when the leaves
leave the trees for another year
that’s where beauty is
when the familiar tops of buildings
take lampposts by surprise
or when the little leaves
leave the trees another year
& the street becomes wet then dry again
By Laurie Bolger (2025), based on conversations on Pitshanger Lane.
Windows
the high street is a gallery
cappuccinos in round window tables
parked bikes & ice cream
where groceries are book-ends
and the bookshop holds words like sweets
all of this dripping with heart
the loyalty of place
this lane where the scent of dry cleaners
meets greengrocer’s brightness
bring in sandwich-shop chat
one side of the street meets the other
butter-light and full
the bus beats down the lane
through bright sun or dishwater rain
this going away & coming back again
By Laurie Bolger (2025), based on conversations on Pitshanger Lane.
Poetry by Participants
Some of the participants also wrote their own poems, which you can watch or read below.
Oldfield Circus, the forgotten part of Ealing
When people think of West London,
They imagine fancy cars & Bougie bars,
But you can turn off the main road,
And forget where you are,
Living in the Shadow of Greenford Quays,
Minus the bright lights,
Minus the clean streets,
Minus the community space,
For children to safely play,
You need care & attention for people to find their way,
This is an ecosystem within an ecosystem,
But there’s always Oldfield Love,
You can get a fresh cut, fresh bread & the best fish & chips in the Borough,
People come together, trying to make a living,
Forgotten by the system but remembering their spirit.
By Kameran
Peaceful Breaths
Northolt: a neighbourhood of peaceful breaths
Northolt: a place full of memories
Northolt: with Oldfield Circus,
Where you can spray your hair,
Or jump in the butcher’s queue,
To get stuff for Polish stew,
Northolt is many things
Northolt: my happy home
And what I love most about my home
Is whom I share it with,
My family
By Ewa
Oct 12th 2018
Welcome to Oldfield Circus,
Where old Journeys end
And new adventures begin,
Dad crossed many borders,
Mum faced many hardships,
Everyone carries a small piece of home with them
Until the day that they die,
From Sri Lanka to West London,
A new world to discover,
Sometimes there’s nothing left in this life
but to try,
Oct 12th 2018,
Was the day we opened up our shop here,
It was Dad’s first time in business,
To him, this was all new
He learned through trial and error and Covid,
The Family all promised to pull through,
Serving the community during lockdown
So that everybody survives together,
My Mum now greets the sun that returns our mornings,
She waves to the moon that births our nights,
My Dad drives his big van to the cash & carry.
Bringing back fresh vegetables with his beautiful smile,
I’m so proud of my parents because,
He did it, she did it, they both really did it for us!
If I really deep it
Oldfield Circus is now my small piece of home,
A part of a promise fulfilled,
Look to the shops on your local high streets,
You’ll see some mighty stories standing behind these tills,
By Alana
The Sunrise of Diversity
As I look out of the window
I catch glimmers of peopl’es lives,
Fleeting moments in each story,
worth a lifetime,
We may ask:
What is the imprtance of community,
and why does it matter?
Why does it matter to be a part of something bigger than yourself,
And spread warmth from your humble corner of the universe?
Standing together is what brings purpose to our lives,
I see the pallet of diversity manifest before me here,
Where all races and ethnicities thrive,
And the vibrancy of personalites
bounce through the streets,
we often think it’s the differences between us
That seperates us, divides us,
But it’s those very differences that
enhances the beauty of our community
Like the colours on a pallette,
we can exist on our own,
The calming blue, the electric red,
But how can colours be of any use on their own,
selfishly isolated?
How can we ever paint the colours of our
memories using only one colour?
It’s those contrasts and differences
that are needed to enhance each other’s beauty,
Like the mixing of paints,
Like the purple that comes from red and blue
And the rainbow from the rain meeting the sun,
It’s our blending of relationships
that creates a picture worth admiring
A vision of beauty to be looked at in awe,
Let’s unite the colours on our flags,
And the hues of our character
To paint an image of our community that we are proud of,
And be part of this sunrise of diversity.
By Georgia