We are very pleased to be able to announce that the IS&T ‘Pick of the Month’ for September is Pearl Harbour by Antony Owen.
Antony was inspired by Hada Sensei who was 8 years old when the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. She lost both of her sisters and could not cry for for 50 years as she had a genetic mutation of the tear ducts. He interviewed her earlier this year in Hiroshima. The poem will feature as part of his translated collection, WE ARE MADE FROM BEAUTIFUL ATOMS, to be published next year in Japan
Antony has very generously and appropriately asked that his ‘prize’ of £10 be donated to the Red Cross.
Pearl Harbour
After Jacques Gaucheron
In Hiroshima there are many pearl harbours
burning in waters of survivors eyes and I have
watched her oysters prise open through grief,
a pale glaucoma where the photographed dot
explodes that day in the grief linished pupils.
In Hiroshima there were many boats on fire
floating in the six rivers like Viking burials,
thousands of rags anchored to the old place
by limbs caught by trees rigor-mortis, did they
never want to leave this city of water and fire.
In Hiroshima they harvest pearls in the inland sea
and some use these spent shells for soup bowls or
or ashtrays, but some hold the tale to their ears and
hear the dead whispering to those who drank them,
I am a shadow that once cast a boy, hiding in the open.
…….
Voters’ comments included:
Beautiful words, deep and meaningful.
…gives me a sense of the darkness around the period both when the bomb was dropped and today, the reminders and legacy of what happened, very thought provoking.
Because this poem tackles an emotive subject with a different perspective on the war
The Hiroshima bomb is often discussed as a matter of military history, rather remote from today, but Antony Owen’s poem brings home the horror of the day when the atom bomb struck and also the normal life before (symbolised by pearl fishing) that was cut short by the bomb.
Moving, evocative, not afraid to show strong emotion
Antony has a rare gift for poetry. No one deserves this more.
…….
Comments on the other short-listed poets included:
Lily Blacksell, Barnacle Geese
I think it speaks straight to you whether you have known such a bereavement or not. The quirky details are what you need to focus on in order not to feel. It moved me a great deal.
Wayne F. Burke, Three Haiku
I love the form.
Aiko Greig, Cassowary
I wish I had written it myself. It is visceral in its evocation of the Cassowary’s impact on the poet. Most importantly, I believed it.
Beth McDonough, Swimming before the May
Tremendous use of language took me to a new place .. wild swimming indeed
Stella Wulf, Double Take
I liked the imagery, the contrasting and jarring scenes between the tea room and the tormented circus bear. I also liked the subtle reference to T.S. Eliot in ‘tea and time’.