Mae hon yn gerdd gomisiwn gan Alex Wharton am fod yn dad a’i brofiad o weithio gyda’r dynion yn Uned Teulu CEM Parc ym mis Ebrill 2025.
Lock and check each iron door. Is it locked, did you check it?
Is it locked, are you sure? There are flowers in the garden, unaware
of where they grow. Free to reach towards the sun. Pollinators visit
them. And all around – the rising walls are stripped of personality.
Yet peppered windows speak of life, out-spilling beats and melodies.
The streams of reggae, rock and rap are looping – pooling on the
pathway, and here I’m somewhere near the halfway – to where the
fathers rest their heads. To where the fathers miss their daughters.
Sons and siblings, friends and lovers. Pushing press-ups in the
hallway, trimming hair beside the stairway. Some for short and some for
long stay. Either way, it’s where they are. A place where actions
must be spent. Confinement is the consequence. And every day the
cell-block grey carries the past into the present. That’s why the writing
must step in. Words that somersault and spin. Here’s where the writer
can escape. To everywhere and anything. Composing words that dare
to dream. Words that transform. Words that believe. A simple freedom
to arrange – artistic details of each day. This is a sincere reminder of the
pen’s unshakeable power. Let the words bring joy and comfort – to every precious living hour
– Alex Wharton, Children’s Laureate Wales 2023-2025