{"id":18075,"date":"2019-01-02T08:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T08:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=18075"},"modified":"2020-12-14T11:22:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T11:22:16","slug":"on-the-twelfth-day-of-christmas-we-bring-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/on-the-twelfth-day-of-christmas-we-bring-you\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, we bring you JS Watts, Kerry Darbishire and Nicky Phillips"},"content":{"rendered":"

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White Blessings<\/strong><\/p>\n

The moon looks down from her bed of winding sheets.
\nHer glance is white, both a blessing and a curse.
\nIt howls of weddings and funerals,
\nvast icy distances;
\nimpersonal, chillingly serene.<\/p>\n

Great snowfields reach up to kiss a bleached bone sky.
\nThe white hare runs with speed and grace.
\nWhatever you do, don\u2019t look at her.
\nVeil her eyes with the soiled nets
\nof winter fog crawling in
\non gusts of inertia.<\/p>\n

Unsullied potential glares defiantly
\nfrom the new year\u2019s calendar;
\nsmooth as untouched cold cream.
\nIt could be anything, many things, nothing
\nreflected in the blankness behind sheeted eyes.<\/p>\n

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J.S.Watts<\/strong>\u2019 books include poetry, Cats and Other Myths<\/em> and\u00a0 Years Ago You Coloured Me<\/em>, plus multi-award nominated Songs of Steelyard Sue<\/em> and a shiny new pamphlet, The Submerged Sea<\/em>. Her novels are A Darker Moon<\/em> and Witchlight<\/em>. See\u00a0www.jswatts.co.uk <\/a><\/p>\n

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The Twelfth Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before glittery robins, deer and pines
\nladen with snow flew through my door,<\/p>\n

before tree lights sparkled the dead-air days
\nand tinsel decked the corners, I was writing<\/p>\n

a poem about you \u2013 wrapped
\nin the joy of cards slipping<\/p>\n

off their strings, hoovering pine needles
\nthe man on the market promised wouldn\u2019t<\/p>\n

drop, the spit and crackle of parched
\nholly dismantled in the grate, you<\/p>\n

glowing in the satisfaction of taking Christmas
\ndown, snapping shut the rusty hinges<\/p>\n

of an old leather suitcase brimmed
\nwith paper chains, lanterns, the nativity, then<\/p>\n

from underneath a bed, lifting out
\nthe scent of blue and white hyacinths.<\/p>\n

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Kerry Darbishire<\/strong> lives in Cumbria. Her poems appear widely in anthologies and magazines and have won several prizes, including shortlist Bridport 2017. Her two poetry collections, A Lift of Wings<\/em> 2014, and Sweet on my Tongue<\/em> 2018 with Indigo Dreams.Twitter: @kerrydarbishire<\/p>\n

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Changing the calendar<\/strong><\/p>\n

Squalls bluster recycled streamers
\nup into spirals; rain, relentless,
\ndrives as puddles deepen;
\nmuddy streams pour off fields;
\nlanes flow like rivers;
\nclouds hang low as skies close in.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, similarly soggy,
\nwas last year, last day,
\nspeeding to midnight\u2019s ringing in.
\nToday, with everything new,
\nfeels old \u2013 no herald of change,
\nno stirring under water-logged soil.<\/p>\n

I ditch December, with its unused
\nprompts for procrastinating poets,
\nsubstitute a flawless year,
\na gallery of vintage typewriters,
\neach date, each key poised,
\nready to deliver the unexpected.<\/p>\n

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Nicky Phillips<\/strong> lives in Hertfordshire. Her poems have been published in magazines and online. In 2017 one was nominated for Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. Her pamphlet Jam in Aisle 3<\/em> was published by Dempsey & Windle in 2018.<\/p>\n

Note: This poem was first published in Benington Parish Magazine, January 2017<\/p>\n

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

          White Blessings The moon looks down from her bed of winding sheets. Her glance is white, both a blessing and a curse. It howls of weddings and funerals, vast icy distances; impersonal, chillingly serene. Great snowfields reach up to kiss a bleached bone sky. The white hare runs with speed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"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":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-twelve-days-of-christmas-2018"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18075","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\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18075"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18156,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18075\/revisions\/18156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}