Vardo: On keeping our journeys safe

Abstract

This poem is a personal response to Romany culture and history, including consideration of the legacy of the holocaust or Porraijmos (devouring) and the socioeconomic diversity of contemporary Roma classes. It does, however, draw on anthropological and sociological theory that supports the significance of the lyric approach to the representation of affect in culture and its virtues over the typical narrative approach. It is set at the annual horse fair of Appleby-in-Westmorland in the North-West of England, between the Pennine Hills and the Cumbrian Lake District. Drawing on two decades of fieldwork and archive research using primary and secondary data, and extensive conversations with key informants, it unfolds over the course of a single day, beginning and ending in a vardo, the iconic “bow-top” caravan, and teases the metaphor of the journey which is core to Roma culture. It is partly written in Romany language, or cant, to convey the importance of rhythm and music in the culture, its style inspired by Tony Gatlif's 1993 film Latcho Drom (Safe Journey) which implies that the historical Roma journey, though often joyful, has been and remains anything but safe.