Christopher Ifill, a former student at St. Bonaventure’s secondary school in Forest Gate, has published a book of poetry this year, called Stxvology.

The school’s Headteacher, Christopher McCormack, has purchased a couple of copies of the Amazon published book for the school’s library.

In the school’s official Instagram account, they wished Christopher the best of luck with his book.

Christopher, who finished his St Bons journey in 2012, told Newham Voices: “I started writing poetry when I was younger but never thought anything of it until I studied Anthology. While speaking to my friends, they persuaded me to start an Instagram account for my poetry and soon after I had the courage to write this book that tells a story of self-love, trauma, building yourself up and standing together.”

Here is a poem from the book, called Pardon Me:

Pardon me, as I stand here staring bluntly
Unspoken pain, zipped behind these rubber lips
Hundred years of injustice, intertwined into my DNA
The world keeps spinning
Black and white to coloured
We are still fighting for justice
Questioning
History
The real history…
Being told “that was years ago, we should move on”
Yet we still celebrate wearing poppies and told to never forget
Those who lost their lives fighting
But forgotten about the thousands who lost their lives fighting to live.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.