C.R.A.I.C.       C.R.A.I.C.         C.R.A.I.C.

     Community relations activity in Craigavon

The idea of C.R.A.I.C. began life as a cross-community venture 20 years ago when I was an able-bodied person, I then worked for the community relations council based at Zion house in Lurgan, covering the whole remit of Craigavon area. I applied for funding to set up a creative writing class as I have a masters degree in creative writing, I am also a humanist so I wanted to set up a fun day for the kids and a music day at the front and back of zion house, The day for me was great there wasn't a swell of people but hundreds was good enough for me all free of charge. 

I got donations to help volunteers and the bands who would have done it for nothing but I believe you have to give to get in case I needed their help in future. we secured funding for the resident anthology, a book of short stories and poems.I was amazed at the standard so it was a great success all round zion,community relations, I was well chuffed with an idea formed in my mind came off so well, I put it all down to you have to give to get. Every venture you form is simply free.

  

                       A.FOX LOOKING

AT A FOX 

BY A.FOX

A boy at a half-door in Hack-

ballscross, a fox thought begins

to form a mile awaty from the town-

land of Mucker. Patrick Kavanaghs

birthplace, poetry is in the air.

A glowing red dawn one he has never 

saw before growing up in Belfast

and London. Something skulks in

the red dawn ditch. A fox hunkers up

to catch the little boys eye just like 

the thought fox caught Ted Hughes

imagination it skulked his realism.

A moment went by, timeless they

watched each other. Years went by

the boy couldn't fathom, happening.

He enrolled in Dundalk tech, hated

school is thrown into a dance class.

When his form teacher read extracts

 fromJulius Caesar or Guillevers travels

he fell l into a trance transformed to 

war-torn streets and his fathers gun-

running across the border that cottage

for him was freedom winds it took all his

Belfast hatred away encaptured en-

raptured for his ignorant father war.

The form teacher spoke to his parents

wanted him to stay on at school but

the boy ran away from home couldn't

wait to get away from his bigot father.

he walked out at the news of the narrow-

water bombing, sons and brothers killed

and he yelled like a world cup goal, 

He walked away in disgust, I can't stand 

it anymore- more, Age sixteen he beat 

his hardman father and ran to his aunts  

in London where he got into trouble 

arrested and deported back.

this time he went to live in Dublin, never

again did he live with his father. He had

three sons went to the poet's house Lan-

caster university became a creative 

writing tutor, 

A publised writer with eight collections

of poetry. Can you put your life down to

a moment, a fox looking at a fox?