{"id":13565,"date":"2017-04-14T15:01:10","date_gmt":"2017-04-14T15:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=13565"},"modified":"2020-12-09T15:15:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T15:15:08","slug":"and-the-pick-of-the-month-for-march-2017-is-stranger-by-jessica-mookherjee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/and-the-pick-of-the-month-for-march-2017-is-stranger-by-jessica-mookherjee\/","title":{"rendered":"And the Pick of the Month for March 2017 is ‘Stranger’ by Jessica Mookherjee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our poem for International Women’s Day, Jessica Mookherjee’s ‘Stranger’, has been voted as the IS&T Pick of the Month for March 2017, its mystical aura and the beauty of the language having seduced our readers.<\/p>\n

Jessica is originally from Wales now living in Kent. She has had poems published previously in Ink Sweat & Tears <\/em>as well as Antiphon, Agenda, Prole, Interpreter\u2019s House, Obsessed With Pipework <\/em>and Tears in the Fence.<\/em> Her pamphlet, The Swell<\/em> \u2013 was published in October 2016 by Telltale Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jessica has asked that her \u00a310 prize be donated to The Sophie Lancaster Foundation,<\/a> which, in memory of Sophie who was kicked to death in 2007 for looking different, focuses on creating respect for and understanding of subcultures in our communities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stranger<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll ask the Moon to do my dirty work.
\nIn the backwash I wonder if the Welsh God
\nwith his untidy name, painted her.
\nI\u2019m the colour of the rock.
\nI\u2019ll be a moon-glowing witch,
\nwith cloud-hands getting slowly drunk, as I shrink out of the sky.
\nThey ask me why I wear a bone in my nose and I laugh,
\nmake their cows lame and their children fail.<\/p>\n

Everyone\u2019s asleep, I walk streets where lights
\nare still on in people\u2019s houses \u2013
\nto walk my coast path from West Cross
\nto the Mumbles Head, away from the village,
\nfrom that old infant school
\nwith that big sign that told them to aim
\nfor something they must have believed at the time,
\nwhere the milk was too warm and made them sick.<\/p>\n

I want to flick a switch and turn
\noff all the stars. I can drop gold-crushed light
\non the cliff paths, and sit
\ndown here on Brandy Cove, sea-faced.
\nThey spread rumours that I was the moon and chased me
\nwith silver, I know I can\u2019t drown
\nbecause I\u2019m the water.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Voters’ comments included:<\/p>\n

Bold, energetic, innovative and deeply feminine poem which takes the reader on a journey that’s both fabulous and believable. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Jess’s poetry has layers of vivid imagery, dreams and ancient stories. As an artist working with the visual world, I like all the hidden depths – they recall everything and nothing of what i have experienced. Pictures and colours rise to the surface! <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Because of the symbolism and how it captures a mystical angst of being different <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The magical atmosphere evoked in the poem and the beautiful use of language – “gold crushed light “! <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

‘the Welsh god\/with his untidy name’ – you know when you read something and think ‘I wish I’d written that’? <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It has a feeling of sparkly abandon and the last three lines just melt me. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The last two lines: Miller ending – a sort of satisfying semi-paradox <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Because the witch sings a strong song. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I love the beauty the words in this poem convey. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The imagery, the language and the sense of ancientness <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Beautiful, lyrical, other worldly. We Welsh are very fey <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Astonishing, luminous and mystical poem, utterly beautiful!<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our poem for International Women’s Day, Jessica Mookherjee’s ‘Stranger’, has been voted as the IS&T Pick of the Month for March 2017, its mystical aura and the beauty of the language having seduced our readers. Jessica is originally from Wales now living in Kent. She has had poems published previously in Ink Sweat & Tears […]<\/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":[136,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2017-poetry-picks","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13565","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=13565"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13817,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13565\/revisions\/13817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}