My name is Monie T. I have written poetry for the ‘Poetry for Grenfell’ project and taken part in Kamitan Arts’ workshops, these really helped me to process the trauma and needless tragedy. I knew a lady who lived at the top and did not survive neither did her family. I always remember her smile and her great character. I know that she had a loving family and she was happy. Although she died young, she was fortunate enough to know love, joy and peace. I can still see her smile. Faouzia El Wahabi and family.

What is justice?

What is justice when nobody utters a word?
The air of silence
Those who passed are still flowering in the wind
Covering another’s sins
The children, the parents, those yet to blossom and bloom
The tower of inferno with no way out
Except to flower down
The tower is flooded with lost tears, hopes and dreams
The tower is still flowing with hope for the truth
The tower still reflects their futures in our hearts
The smiles, the laughs, the love they felt and gave of themselves.
That still remains in the hearts and minds of those that knew them
The sun is beaming today, just like any old day
I sit on the bench and look up and ponder life once again.
The tower still remains in green along with the ashes of their dreams

Monie T, resident left in 2018 after 18 years in W10.

Years have passed -

What is justice when nobody utters a word?
The air of silence
Those who passed are still flowering in the wind
Covering another’s sins
The children, the parents, those yet to blossom and bloom
The tower of inferno with no way out
Except to flower down
The tower is flooded with lost tears, hopes and dreams
The tower is still flowing with hope for the truth
The tower still reflects their futures in our hearts
The smiles, the laughs, the love they felt and gave of themselves.
That still remains in the hearts and minds of those that knew them
The sun is beaming today, just like any old day
I sit on the bench and look up and ponder life once again.
The tower still remains in green along with the ashes of their dreams

Monie T, resident left in 2018 after 18 years in W10.

Life will never be the same

Even then I knew life, life as I knew it would never be the same
It was the longest night, the longest night
Time does not heal wounds in their entirety without the melody of truth
Time eventually reveals the truth
Sometimes it takes days, months, years even decades
Eventually it can not escape nor fly anymore.
Nor blow away with the flourishing leaves
Nor blow away the emerald plants they grew and owned

Grenfell the global tower of hope

Into the skies, the view of London they gazed upon
Excitement of a new life
Joy at owning a home away from home for some
Painting a new room coming to life
Flowering, blossoming into a time capsule
Like a great grandfather watching from beyond or afar
Spanish, Italian, Arabic, English, Irish, Portuguese
Languages spoken like the Rosetta stone coming to life in the lifts
Grenfell represented every colour and nationality.
Working in I.T, nurses and teachers
Those who had their own businesses
Kids playing in the hallways.
Borrowing salt from their neighbours
Finding their way in life, building futures
All that was taken away
The lives they lived were brilliant
Simple lives, but now just as bright in the stars up there
They now burn bright in the London skyline
Waiting for the truth to rain down on us

Grenfell you still stand tall

I can no longer see it
I look out my window
It is no longer there
There is another one in view
There is another one just like you
I look and there you are
Not so near, but not far enough
It is an ever-present memory
A long-lost friend that keeps me company
On a sunny day
A long-lost friend that I cannot forget
There you are again
Another one just like you in grey on a dull day
I can’t look too long, or I might remember
Days that I do, days that I don’t
I never quite know myself if I will see you up there in grey or yellow
The lights may all be on
I have to look away before I see it all again
Too bright to look at
You can move away as far as you please
You can move away as far as you dare, but the memory still remains
I see the stern tower block from my window staring back at me
I can’t forget Grenfell tower
From a tower of hope and strength to that which rests in my heart
The people who smile down at me reminding me to live, really live
Life has changed forever for many, but life has had to go on
That is the bitter reality of life
Nobody could ever really understand unless they knew, really knew
It is hard to ever know what will come of this, but only God knows the truth

God and many others who choose to pay in money, but not speak the truth
Who do we blame?, life?, circumstances or injustice and equality? Or peoples blindness?
Decisions made in glass buildings with chandeliers and champagne
Who is to blame and what?
The list is so long
Only time will tell what will come of the Tower

Justice

Justice years on
I used to feel anger, but no more
I wanted what one would only call ‘justice’
I no longer know what that means except for the true sense of the word
It can only mean freedom to walk freely on the golden sand
Freedom to be at one and at peace
I no longer know what that word means ‘justice’
Would it mean that someone is accountable or many people?
I can only say that you just can’t count or measure happiness
Justice in one man’s eyes is not enough or never going to be enough

The tower, Grenfell

Standing solitary
Mirroring the tears of children
Echoing the laughs and cries of the past
Life carried on, but the kettle is still on
The new blue paint is still drying for her
It just won’t dry
The canvas on the wall is still not finished

The bed is still unmade
The bedtime story still remains open
The radio is still on
The Lambada still plays loudly
They sing along gleefully in Portuguese
They still dance like teenagers
‘obrigado pela vida que temos’

The wine glasses clunk and they think of Italia ‘salute’
They dream of their next adventure
They look out from above ‘grazie’ they say ‘per la vita’
They dream of travelling together to a foreign land
Watching the planes
‘grazie per la vita che abbiamo’

The sound of Spanish can be heard
The laughs are getting louder
They remember their homeland
They think of la playa
When will they go?, but they are grateful para todo
‘Gracias por la vida che tenemos’

Up at the top they miss Morocco
They miss their family
They wish they could sit and eat with their beloved family
They cut their onions, they boil the rice, they speak about the day
They always take time to pray
They thank God for what was good in their lives ‘el hamdillilah’
The lift goes up again
The lift goes down
They are still waiting
They are still waiting for the truth
Then their families and friends can truly start to heal