English and Welsh - but still 'sisters' over the garden fence

This is a wonderful poem written by Alison Leonard and she has given permission for me to share it with you all. When Alison was living in Chester many years ago, her neighbours were Welsh-speaking and that sparked a lifelong interest in Welsh language and culture.

Alison’s adult daughter is now a Welsh speaker, despite living in London, and Alison says that that friendship between neighbours “taught our children the first lesson in learning a new language - the fact that English is only one of thousands of languages, each one of which is equally important.”

Her poem won a prize in a Chester Literature Competition nearly 20 years ago. Here it is for you all to enjoy:

Sisters of the early shift.pdf (90.6 KB)

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Mae hi’n tynny ar fy nghalon.

Wow! That’s given me goosebumps!! What a beautiful poem. :heart:

Very moving and, so true.

Wonderful poem, thank you.