Showcase: Baby Boomer + Birthday Haibun And Haiku + The Upward Climb + Words For Wounds + The Barrier

Edited by Mary Walsh

Hello, welcome to my second Showcase on the theme of  (R) Evolution (Evolution/Revolution). Looking up the definition of Evolution by Charles Darwin, he noticed the winners were those that had characteristics which made them better adapted for survival. I often find it’s the quiet evolution that wins, slowly changing the attitudes of our society, trying to make it better.

My first poem is a reflection on how society has changed since the Second World War.

Baby Boomers

We grew up in the in-between times
repopulating the war torn world
Baby Boomers revolt both girls and boys
Crepe heeled shoes and lots of noise
Not happy with the status quo
We found a different way to go
We burnt our bra’s in a world made to listen
Changing the views on the role of women
We struggled to be equal
In life and with pay
Still struggling but will make it one day.
The baby boomers populate
And make sure the world does not stagnate.

(c) Mary L Walsh, 2025

Connect: Instagram @marelwa60

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Next, I’ve picked a lovely Haibun and Haiku from Lesley Forward. The quiet evolution of poetry even in the middle of the night!

Birthday Haibun And Haiku

Now that I have reached my 60th birthday I have been thinking about becoming.
How throughout the ages of time we undergo the process of change and transformation, yet for me, now, it is still an unknown adventure.
Then I woke up in the middle of the night with the gift of a fully formed Haiku.
I was so excited; scribbling it down blindly, counting syllables on my fingers in the dark.

I am in translation
To an ancient tongue, so new
No-one knows the name

(c) Lesley Forward, 2025

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Here’s a revolution we’ve all seen: the evolution of growing and learning, in this poem by Benjamin Doeteh.

The Upward Climb

Tiny hands reach for the light,
Innocent eyes, so clear and bright.
Each new day, a step to take,
A world to learn, for goodness’s sake.

Scraped knees and lessons learned,
Bridges built, and pages turned.
Friendships bloom, and dreams take flight,
Guiding stars in darkest night.

With every year, a stronger soul,
Reaching for a distant goal.
The upward climb, a winding track,
Never looking, ever back.

(c) Benjamin Doeteh, 2025

Connect: Instagram @benjamin.doeteh

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My next choice is an emotional poem by Natalie. I think it shows how revolutionary writing can be when the spoken word fails us.

Words For Wounds

The words, they rage in me like savage troops at war,
They tie up tight my tongue, hold every sound in store.
Sharp glottal bursts attempt to claim a place, a right,
To string a trembling bow, and launch it into flight.

My shrunken throat becomes a battlefield of steel,
With voiceless shields and soldiers too cruel to feel.
They storm my throat, they echo all my muted screams,
As my heart bleeds with bullets, shattered from old dreams.

Soon, the whole army slips, slides down from neck to hand,
And in a burst of rage, my fingers take command—
Gripping a pen like fire, it spills what I withhold,
Releasing fierce emotions I was forced to fold.

I cannot shout aloud the depths of what I feel,
They choke my voice, as silence winds around the real.
But I can write them down, each pain in ink and line,
Forging my thoughts in verse, one burning word at a time

(c) Natalie, 2025

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My last choice is a short story from Caroline Burrows which demonstrates the quiet revolutionary courage needed to change or break away from a relationship.

The Barrier

The wine bar’s window reflected Lana in her fluorescent jacket as she approached the bike racks. She hesitated, recognising the bike chained up next to hers. Dillon’s bike. Again. She took a sharp inward breath and blew the air out slowly, as if from a cigarette; sometimes she really missed smoking.

Lana unlocked her bike, carefully liberating it from the tangle it was in with Dillon’s on the other side. His bike ended up resting at an odd angle, like a drunk leaning away from whatever was trying to give it some support. She set it upright, a little act of kindness despite being sure it would go unnoticed and unappreciated. Then she put the lock in her rucksack, pulled out her helmet, gloves and —

“It’s so cold,” came a muffled voice from behind her.

She spun round. It wasn’t Dillon; just another cyclist with a scarf over his mouth. The man nodded at her and went to his bike at the end.

“Freezing,” she said, getting on her bike, pedalling away from the man’s reply.

Lana didn’t hear Dillon behind the bar’s window, wishing her a safe journey as she cycled towards the bike path, always riding the long way home. He was confident she’d never come in the wine bar. Not her cup of tea. He sat there, too afraid to approach her after all this time, in case she cycled away from him, too.

The window, now empty of her, reflected Dillon’s ghosted image as he downed his whisky and stood, stumbling slightly as he made his way outside to his carefully rearranged bike.

The cold burned Lana’s ears as she pedalled. She stopped and rooted around in her rucksack for her headband, the one her friend had knitted especially for her. Maybe it’d fallen out of her bag at the racks. She doubled back, pulling over out of sight when she saw Dillon bending down beside his bike to pick up the cerise headband, which he then put it in his pocket.

She watched him weaving into a stuttering flow of buses, cars and exhaust fumes. Still taking the riskier route. He was never going to change. “Safe journey,” said Lana, the white breath from her words forming like smoke, which disappeared in the crisp night air as she turned away and cycled the safer way home.

(c) Caroline Burrows, 2025

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Lastly, I wanted to share this photo I took last year in Ireland. It had been raining since we arrived, but suddenly there was an extraordinary shift in the weather. It proved that things can change in an instant and when you least expect: revolutionary!

I hope you have enjoyed this selection. All of them show a different type of evolution or revolution in their unique ways.

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You can hear great new ideas, creative work and writing tips on Write On! Audio. Find us on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Google Podcasts and Spotify. Type Pen to Print into your browser and look for our logo, or find us on Podcasters.Spotify.com.

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