The Ink Sweat & Tears’ Pick of the Month for March 2016 is ‘…and the heart a broken bell’ by john sweet:
b. 1968, a believer in sunlight and surrealism. opposed to plutocracies posing as democracies and most social media. most recent collection is The Century of Dreading Monsters (Lummox Press).
john has asked that his £10 prize be donated to the Cats Protection League.
…and the heart a broken bell
says she’s tired of being dead and
what the hell am i supposed to do?
can’t have power without money
can’t have god without the devil
late august sunlight after
four days of rain and i kiss her
feet when she asks
i kiss her breasts
lick the tears from her cheeks and
wait for the moment to pass and
what we are is finished
but not quite yet
what the space between us sounds
like is an unspoken apology
no one wants to talk about the
future when it never amounts to
anything more than children
sleeping in a house on fire
Voters’ comments included:
All the poems were moving and powerful (as they always are). However, john sweet’s was the one I went back to read over and over.
Awesome stuff from a man who isn’t afraid to be edgy and speak his mind!!
It sounds like a couple in love and then has a surprise ending.
Most lucid poet on the net
Comments on the other shortlisted poets included:
Robert Harper, ‘Through a Lens’
it did that thing some good poems do – distracted me and found a way to get under my skin while I was looking elsewhere, then located a store of un-expired pain and re-activated it. Ouch.
Janet Hatherley, ‘Ghazal: Trace’
A difficult form to master in English, but this looks effortless, with form and content working so well together.
Jane Lovell, ‘Two Mountains’
I like the way it has merged the notion of destiny with domestic imagery in a moment of private epiphany.
Marion Oxley, ‘A Taxidermist Regenerates Blackburn’
I like the earthiness of it and the way it tugs you through as you read to find out more.
Anthony Wilson, ‘The Future’
Complex and compelling.