Two poets, two very different worlds. At the last Poets in Putney open mic on Thursday 28 May, Tunde Balogun read a poem drawn from a teenage sea voyage in 1984; Aaron Khemchandani read about the slow absurdity of corporate life. Both held the room.
The night ran in partnership with London Rivers Week, the annual Thames21 campaign celebrating the capital’s rivers, and it fell in the middle of the hottest May on record.
Tunde Balogun (“T”)
T is a South London educator, life coach, poet and spoken-word performer who mentors young people and adults with Free2B Alliance and Carney’s Community, and was named Coach of the Year at the 2022 Active Wandsworth Awards. A warm, thought-provoking regular at Poets in Putney, she often writes acrostics (poems where each line begins with a letter of a word that sets the theme) and champions causes close to her, from sickle cell disease to the RNLI.
At the May night she read a poem drawn from 1984/85, when she was the only Black person among 55 trainees who sailed on the STS Sir Winston Churchill (then a schooner, now a private charter yacht) on to the Canary Islands. The piece carries a double weight: a reflection on who gets access to opportunities like that, then and now, and a grateful memory of the adventure itself. “So many beautiful places, I was blessed to explore,” she writes. “I’d been bitten by the travel bug and wanted to see more.”
T has self-published two poetry collections through the Women’s Resource Centre, Blouse an’ Skirt Babe!!! and Joy an’ Pain, Babe!!!, and is writing a third. Her work ranges across equality, racial justice, resilience and self-care, using poetry as a tool for healing, humour, connection and change. You can find more of it on Instagram at @freethinker68.
Of the poem she shares here, T says it was the first she wrote on returning to writing, “to help get some things off my chest.”
There’s too many bad things going on
& there’s too many right things going wrong.
We’re in a new decade, it’s the 20’s,
the few are okay, but what about the plenty?
Queuing up at the bank, for food rather than money,
working people are starving, it’s not even funny.
I’ve almost run out of tears, there’s been so much crying,
politicians continuously lying, as our children keep dying.
We all, have to accept some responsibility,
stop making excuses & work together, to the best of our ability.
The key is tolerance & communication,
but nothing can be achieved without integrity & dedication.
If we unite,
I know together, we can put the wrong things right.
Because there’s too many bad things going on
& there’s too many right things going wrong!!!
Aaron Khemchandani
Aaron writes poetry, music, articles and essays about Empire and its mark on the modern world. He gives “hidden history” tours at places like the National Maritime Museum, surfacing the imperial stories that don’t make it onto the plaques, and runs Stories of Empire, a programme of walking tours and guided exhibitions across London.
He started writing and performing poetry in 2025, and his subjects run from the monotony of office life to the collapse of the Mughal Empire and the absurdity of Michelin stars. “It’s a creative outlet I’m learning to harness every day, and I love it,” he says.
At the May night he had the room laughing, first with a poem about the Punjab before British colonisation, then with the one he shares here, on the small absurdities of corporate life. You can read more of his work on Instagram at @storiesofempire.
How do we say so much without saying anything?
We’ve been on this teams call for an hour, internally aligning on how best to internally align
This wasted time brings my head so much pain, you can’t tell me its benign!
I’ve been asked to take notes, but I need to find my notes on how best to take notes… I should’ve taken note
What am I doing?
I could’ve been an explorer, or a journalist, or a radio presenter
But much like my eighth-grade business teacher Mr. Larkin
I just spend my days spewing meaningless corporate jargon
How many ducks constitute a row?
How do I circle back without getting dizzy?
Am I questioning ALL my life choices? Not yet, but nearly
I’ve been in this job so long, I struggle to see clearly, and all that seems to matter is fiscal performance yearly
I could’ve been a football commentator, a job I’d love so dearly
But instead, I’ve spent the last 10 minutes deciding between best regards or yours fucking sincerely.
Coming up: Poets in Putney turns one
Poets in Putney is one year old. The anniversary night is this Thursday, 25 June, at Putney Library Hall, with cake, a raffle (performing poets go into the draw to win a Waterstones gift voucher) and an afterparty at The Spotted Horse on Putney High Street. Tickets are more than 70% sold.
Putney Library Hall, home of Poets in Putney. Credit: Poets in PutneyThe night grew out of a free Start-Up Wandsworth session in the Library’s wood-panelled old hall a year ago. It now sells out most months, drawing poets of every level of experience. When attendees were asked, they voted to keep it in the Hall rather than move to a pub, for the calm the room brings to a reading.
Poets in Putney meets on the last Thursday of each month at Putney Library Hall, SW15 2DR.
