We celebrate the first week of Wales Readathon 2021 with a poem written by the current National Poet of Wales 

Today I share with you a poem by Ifor ap Glyn, written in 2017 to mark St David’s Day. It is a celebration of the Welsh language, originally penned in Cymraeg.

Born in London in 1961 to Welsh-speaking parents, Ifor ap Glyn graduated from Cardiff University before moving firstly to Denbighshire and then to Caernarfon – where he eventually settled. He has for many years banged the bilingual drum for Welsh poetry around the world, performing at festivals such as the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington DC. He has twice won the prestigious Crown at the National Eisteddfod and from 2008-2009 was Bardd Plant Cymru, the Welsh-language Children’s Laureate. He was named Wales’ National Poet in 2016. 

Umbrella Welsh by Ifor ap Glyn

It rains so often
in our stormy world,
but your spokes always lock
in a hemisphere above my head;
and I can float through our people’s wit,
hanging by one arm beneath your wing.

For some, you simply can’t be opened,
but rolling you tight
lends a Welsh spring
to our step;
and we lift you, like a narrow flag,
to guide visitors to our history,
to an alternate reality, that’s open to all…

You are that brolly,
that melds our world,
as long as you’re jointly held,
– whether open or furled…

Categories: Reading Wales

Tags: #Dewithon21, Ifor ap Glyn, National Poet of Wales, Wales, Wales Readathon 2021, Welsh Poet, Welsh Poetry