Listen to the world’s best poetry read out loud.
Poetry Archive Now Wordview 2025: When I Ask Ammā To Sponsor Me For Pride Run 10K
by Gayathiri Kamalakanthan
Poetry Archive Now Wordview 2025: When I Ask Ammā To Sponsor Me For Pride Run 10K
Ammā doesn’t have words like “pride”
or “trans” or “coming out”. English is not her first
or second or third language.
But I send the link anyway, as requested.
I imagine the next day. Ammā is perched on the doormat,
greasing her heels with Tiger Balm Red.
She rolls two pairs of socks over her feet,
wiggling her toes to attention.
The new trainers she bought are unstuffed,
waiting. She steps into them, right, then left,
careful as a toddler on wet tile.
All week she peels and soaks and tēykkiratu,
anticipating my hunger, her feet moulding
the trainers’ stubborn edges as she works.
When I arrive for dinner, she is massaging
her yellow-callused sole, little toe pink as a newborn.
She stands and hands me a ribboned box:
This for you, kunju. Be careful. Run well.
A special thank you to our WordView 2025 poets.
Hear from some our winners this year on what the Archive and winning has meant to them:
"I feel deeply grateful to be taking part in the chorus of voices honoured by PAN Worldwide 2025. Leonard Cohen famously sang that “every heart to love will come, but like a refugee.” For me, the same might be said of poetry. I came to the writing of it late, and thank The Poetry Archive for providing the encouragement to continue being brave in sharing it." - Michelle Robin Visser.
"I think it shows the importance of live spoken word to share poetry as equally as the printed word for some audiences." - Steve Harrison.
"Being part of the PAN Worldwide 2025 collection alongside 17 incredible poets from across the globe is both an honour and a reminder of the unifying power of poetry. Moving forward, I think this experience will stay with me, it has encouraged me to continue writing with honesty and openness, and to remember that my voice is part of something much larger than myself." - Panya Banjoko.
See the collectionWatch the full Wordview 2025 playlist