{"id":11885,"date":"2016-08-10T15:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T15:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=11885"},"modified":"2020-12-09T15:04:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T15:04:54","slug":"and-the-pick-of-the-month-for-july-2016-is-theophilus-kweks-psalm-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/and-the-pick-of-the-month-for-july-2016-is-theophilus-kweks-psalm-19\/","title":{"rendered":"And the Pick of the Month for July 2016 is Theophilus Kwek’s ‘Psalm 19 ‘"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a particularly powerful and emotional shortlist this month out of which Theophilus Kwek’s transcendent<\/em> ‘Psalm 19’ emerged as the overall winner.<\/span><\/p>\n

Theo is the author of three collections, They Speak Only Our Mother Tongue<\/em> (2011), Circle Line<\/em> (2013), and Giving Ground (<\/em>2016). He won the Jane Martin Prize in 2015 and the New Poets Prize in 2016, and was president of the Oxford University Poetry Society.<\/p>\n

He has asked that his \u00a310 prize be donated to First Story<\/a>, the charity that changes lives through writing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Psalm 19<\/strong><\/p>\n

To the Fathers at the Paris Seminary<\/em>
\nJean-Marie Beurel, Priest, Church of the Good Shepherd, Singapore<\/em><\/p>\n

On still days, when this meridian city
\nbecomes an image of itself \u2013 masts
\nhung with cloud on the water, sky<\/p>\n

turned to stone above white cornices \u2013
\nI lock the church, and, skirting the yard, go
\npast the padang with its whinnying horses,<\/p>\n

through orchards\u2019 shade, across the narrow weir
\nwhere streets run out beyond the forest\u2019s edge
\nand find, just a little north of here<\/p>\n

cathedral silence, and a leaf-stained light
\nlifted as prayer into the trees\u2019 transept
\nto join branches with the flood and flight<\/p>\n

of tropical birds, like a jewel intact.
\nWonder with me: how faith follows sight
\nin this small harbour, where the rich and wrecked<\/p>\n

gather to be blessed at journey\u2019s end,
\nsand\u2019s soft language fills the buttress roots
\nand wears our feet like another land.<\/p>\n

Here He is, still. God of the distance
\nand river\u2019s overflow, stars\u2019 luminescence.
\nHarvest\u2019s full, fell hour. First snow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*Psalm 19 was first published in Giving Ground (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2016)<\/em><\/p>\n

*********<\/p>\n

\n

Voters’ comments included:<\/span><\/p>\n

Hard decision, I loved them all…But admire Kwek’s ability to blend natural and supernatural, make us feel intimations of divine in the everyday; and courage to name it. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Original and haunting<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Such vivid imagery throughout and the last stanza is simply stunning.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Great poem, very evocative of both source and Singapore then and now. And his way with words…. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The imagery and use of language is beautiful and consistent with the Central theme and subject matter. The use of language speaks volumes of the sense of space and place. Contemplative, lovely and hopeful, this is a beautiful poem that is both clever and soul-filling. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The beauty of the language of the psalms is portrayed here in this poet’s song. It gives rise to a myriad of emotions and languages, evoking a swell of admiration as it reflects the creator’s marvelling of his Creator and resonates with his recognition of how small he is in comparison to the One whom he deems praiseworthy of All. A lovely piece; spellbound. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This poem combines words in surprisingly evocative ways, creating images that stay in the mind. “sand’s soft language” and “leaf-stained light” are among my favourites. the flow of the lines is precise, carefully balanced and all the energy is built from the poem’s core and brought to a graceful finish at the end, quite like a meditation and the release of breath. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Beautifully textured! I am deeply moved. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

That stunning last line. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Artful and impactful portrait <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I just like the imagery. The scenes\u00b4description is reflective and perceptive of the transcendent, in a positive way that uplifts.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a particularly powerful and emotional shortlist this month out of which Theophilus Kwek’s transcendent ‘Psalm 19’ emerged as the overall winner. Theo is the author of three collections, They Speak Only Our Mother Tongue (2011), Circle Line (2013), and Giving Ground (2016). He won the Jane Martin Prize in 2015 and the New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-poetry-picks","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11885"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11896,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11885\/revisions\/11896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}