{"id":15606,"date":"2018-01-16T16:04:30","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T16:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=15606"},"modified":"2020-12-09T16:17:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T16:17:19","slug":"and-our-pick-of-the-month-for-december-is-the-cumquats-of-christmas-past-by-ali-whitelock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/and-our-pick-of-the-month-for-december-is-the-cumquats-of-christmas-past-by-ali-whitelock\/","title":{"rendered":"And our Pick of the Month for December is ‘the cumquats of christmas past’ by Ali Whitelock"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

All you want for December’s Pick of the Month is ‘the cumquats of christmas past’. This strong and beautiful poem by Ali Whitelock had a profound effect on the voters and, for many, left a powerful impression long after reading it. It was, quite simply, an ‘incredibly moving’ picture of grief. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ali\u2019s poems have been published in several magazines and journals. Her memoir, poking seaweed with a stick\u2026<\/em>. <\/a>was published to critical acclaim and her poetry collection, and my heart crumples like a coke can<\/em> will be released in 2018.<\/p>\n

‘the cumquats of christmas past’ has been chosen as one of Ink Sweat & Tears’ entries for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem 2018<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the cumquats of christmas past<\/strong><\/p>\n

you hailed your taxi tuesday the eight\u2013\u2013<\/span>
\neenth of february 2014 at four twenty seven p.m.
\ni watched it approach swerve to the kerb
\nits back doors fly open\u2013\u2013if this was death i saw it
\ncrouched behind the wheel & jaded as a night
\nshift driver full of red bull & no doz & cheap 7\/11
\ncoffee ten thousand cigarette butts spewing
\nfrom its ashtray\u2019s filthy mouth
\nthe driver bundled you in\u2013\u2013no fanfare<\/span>
\nno prayers no bach cantata sung in sotto voce
\nthat might accompany you on the fresh black
\ntarmac of your new road ahead\u2013\u2013& nothing
\nsoft for you to lay your head on
\njust a cracked vinyl seat stale cigarette<\/span>
\nsmoke a strawberry scented christmas tree jiggling
\nlike a tea bag from the rear view mirror. i lay my
\nhand on yours leaned in whispered something like
\ni\u2019m sorry made sure your pyjama sleeves were clear
\nof the door before pressing it closed as the first
\nbubbles of fermenting sadness rose in me<\/span>
\nand i forced them down like cumquats into a jar
\nfilled with brandy in preparation for christmas
\nwhich was still ten months away & for weeks i kept
\ncramming till the skins of my cumquats tore
\ntheir flesh bled out & you could no longer
\ntell where one cumquat ended & another
\nbegan
\n& when finally christmas came i half<\/span>
\ndecked my halls whispered infrasonic compliments
\nof the season too low even for a passing whale hung
\nempty stockings from the mantle their gaping mouths
\nspeechless by the un-kindled fire & when finally
\nlunch was served & those of us left were gathered over
\nturkey & ham i took my jar of preserved cumquats
\nfrom the dark of my pantry, made my way around
\nthe table & heaped everyone\u2019s plate with a side of my
\ncompressed orange grief.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Voters comments included:<\/p>\n

The grief is palpable. The writing easy but descriptive and efficient. Almost overwhelmingly sad but controlled,acknowledged and accepted <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The cumquats of grief that’s why – how they pack in more around Christmas, preserved, ever jammed. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The concept of Ali’s grief being squished down like cumquats in a jar totally hit the note – and spooning them out at Christmas just about finished me…! Absolutely loved it.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

Very evocative language! What a wordsmith!! <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Ali’s work really captures the crystal prisms of December <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I love Ali’s breathless ramblings that cut closer and closer to the bone with savagely unscrambled line. Great stuff<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Very emotional felt the grief of the writer <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

A quirky, punchy and powerful poem. Works very effectively – love it!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I can see, smell and taste the cumquats.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

love the syntax, imagery, emotion<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It punches me in the stomach and I love it. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Ali\u2019s voice is so original yet speaks to the heart of what is Universal. She\u2019s a thrilling find!!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

it was the perfect portrait of the cab driver. such compassion for him while drawing this ghastly portrait. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The poem dealt with grief in such an original way. Many of the lines stayed with me long after I read it. Very original and moving. Would love to read more of Ali Whitelock’s work. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This poem combines wonderful lyricism with a visceral use of the vernacular. It is an intimate telling which is what poetry should be<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Brilliant, brilliant soulful writing! <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I adore her quirky poetry, it makes me want to read more (and get to know her!) <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I love the way this poem flows, without rules and she captures the approach of death in a sad and unique way<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

This poem resonates emotion … the grief is palpable but not obvious in the chosen words. Original. Creative. Yet totally relatable. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Simply a wonderful poem that does the very tricky thing of making another person’s loss and grief so tangible and visceral to the reader. The details: eg. making sure pyjama sleeves were clear of the taxi door which is then pressed close like the lid on the jar of cumquats. Breathtakingly good.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  All you want for December’s Pick of the Month is ‘the cumquats of christmas past’. This strong and beautiful poem by Ali Whitelock had a profound effect on the voters and, for many, left a powerful impression long after reading it. It was, quite simply, an ‘incredibly moving’ picture of grief. Ali\u2019s poems have […]<\/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":[136,141],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2017-poetry-picks","category-prizes-and-awards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15606","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=15606"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15948,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15606\/revisions\/15948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}