Am faint y buom ni’n aros
am amser fel hwn – i’r byd
ddod i stop, a’n lluchio
ni’n dau dan gynfas
o be-i-wneud-nesa? Am faint
y buom ni’n sibrwd am Graig yr Allt,
Mynydd y Glyn, Mynydd Maendy,
am roi taw ar yr awyrennau am sbel
a dweud ffarwél wrth Barcelona,
Benidorm, Butlin’s? Ac am faint
y buom ni’n ymbil ar y sêr i oedi
am fymryn hirach na’r arfer,
ar yr haul i gadw draw am ddiwrnod
neu ddau
i ni gael slyrio pethau sili yng nghlustiau’n gilydd –
diarhebion diddychymyg
am ba mor fach yr ydym
ar y patshyn pathetig hwn o Gymru,
mor fyw?
This picture reminds me of lockdown, and the substantial amount of time I spent exploring my local area, something I hadn't really ever done before. The Pandemic forced us to go back in time, so to speak, to a time when travelling to the furthest corners of the globe wasn't possible (doesn't the fact that this photograph is black and white emphasise this feeling?). Our local area would have to make do. Of course, ‘stay home’, was the order. And I fell in love with the landscape and the views – and walking and running – and saw the beauty of the area where I was born. I truly fell in love with staying home. Needless to say, the Pandemic was a terrible period for many in the Valleys, and Tonyrefail at one point had the highest death rate in Wales and England, but it was also a period of respite, of exploring, of realising the important things.
Gwynfor was born and raised in the town of Tonyrefail in the South Wales Valleys, and attended two of the local schools, Ysgol Gynradd Tonyrefail and Ysgol Llanhari. Later he studied languages and literature at Cambridge University, spending his year abroad working for the British Chamber of Commerce in Chile. After graduating, he moved back to Tonyrefail to live for three years, before moving to London where he now works as a journalist for the BBC. He started writing poetry at Ysgol Llanhari, and won the Chair at the Urdd National Eisteddfod while still a pupil in 2016, and again in 2017. He's a member of the Morgannwg team in the Ymryson [poetic debate], and is a member of the Tir Iarll team on the radio series Y Talwrn on BBC Radio Cymru. He has been awarded the Cledwyn Roberts Memorial Prize twice for the series' best poem in free verse.
