What if love wasn't blind
A collaboration between Cathi Rae & Vicky Scott
January 2023
Cathi Rae
"I am an award-winning poet, spoken word artist, accidental academic and workshop facilitator. My work has been widely published and anthologised. My collection "Your Cleaner hates you & other poems" was published by Soulful Press at the start of 2020 ( still available via Amazon or directly from the poet). Somewhat to my own embarrassment I have been described as "a spoken word icon" by Joelle Taylor ( 2021 winner of the TS Eliot prize for poetry) , I am trying hard to live up to that.
I have performed throughout the UK, at poetry nights, festivals and arts venues and I’m a multiple slam poetry champion and will be representing the University of Leicester at the National Uni-Slam championships later this year.
I came to writing and education late in life, having left school at 16, only discovering the power and pleasure of writing poetry in my mid 40s. I was accepted onto the MA programme in Creative Writing @ The University of Leicester in 2091 in my late 50s. I am currently funded by the British Research Council to work on a full-time PhD creating poetry from conversations with marginalised and under represented individuals.
I am proof, if nothing else, that you are never too old to be creative, to learn new skills or to access further education.
Outside of poetry, I work as an older model and am a passionate champions for preloved fashion and a campaigner against ageism in the fashion industry ( you can find me on Instagram @cathirae).
An early version of this poem was written to celebrate the wedding of friends ( and circus performers) at a festival in 2022 - they requested a poem that wasn't soppy or all hearts and flowers but that celebrated love in unexpected places."
I am proof, if nothing else, that you are never too old to be creative, to learn new skills or to access further education.
Outside of poetry, I work as an older model and am a passionate champions for preloved fashion and a campaigner against ageism in the fashion industry (you can find me on Instagram @cathirae).
An early version of this poem was written to celebrate the wedding of friends ( and circus performers) at a festival in 2022 - they requested a poem that wasn't soppy or all hearts and flowers but that celebrated love in unexpected places."
Vicky Scott
"Hello, my names Vicky and I’m an illustrator based in Sheffield. I enjoy creating uplifting, fun filled designs often with hidden details for the viewer to find. My illustrations are created as paper cuts using a mixture of bought, found and painted. I love all things retro from Art Deco to 60’s psychedelia, which I hope comes across in my design.
I really liked the idea of creating some artwork for Poems by Post, as the idea of signing up to receive a bit of real life art and poetry through your door every month is really heart warming.
My illustration focuses on the part of the poem “What if love could scale the tower of stories made from tales you told yourself”. I liked the idea of setting the piece at night as it always seems more magical and give me an excuse to use motifs such swirling Art Noveau hair and twinkling stars. The main character is dreaming of being in a fairytale castle, whilst her love scales the walls to reach her (although he /she is quite practical as uses ladders!) The castle is full of books, some of which fly around like birds. Hope you enjoy both my art and the poem!"
