{"id":19498,"date":"2019-06-27T14:59:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T14:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=19498"},"modified":"2020-12-09T15:42:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T15:42:22","slug":"because-from-clementine-e-burnley-is-our-pick-of-the-month-for-may-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/because-from-clementine-e-burnley-is-our-pick-of-the-month-for-may-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Because’ from Clementine E. Burnley is our Pick of the Month for May 2019."},"content":{"rendered":"

When sifting through all the comments on our shortlist for May’s Pick of the Month, in amongst the ‘beautifuls’, ‘powerfuls’, ‘movings’ and ‘evocatives’, one comment in particular stood out. In response to Clementine E. Burnley’s poem which looks at the injustice and indignity associated with deportation, someone had written ‘relevant to me’. And at that point, ‘Because’ became more than just a poem. It is therefore fitting in this chaotic time, when it feels like the wolves are at the door, that it is our Pick of the Month for May 2019.<\/p>\n

Clementine is a mother, writer, and community worker. In 2018 she was published in the the Emma Press Second Place Rosette: Poems about Britain<\/em>, loss lit magazine<\/em>, and die Neue Rundschau<\/em>. You can find her on twitter @decolonialheart.<\/p>\n

Clementine has asked that her \u00a310 ‘prize’ be donated to the Hackney Migrant Centre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Because<\/strong><\/p>\n

we have few means,
\nof dealing
\nwith the night,
\na door crashes open.
\nCloses.
\nwith a woman standing barefoot at the airport,
\nin pajamas and handcuffs
\nwith isolated instances. Rogue police officers
\nhave never been isolated,
\nor dealt with
\nin any systematic way.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Voters comments included:<\/p>\n

A beautiful poem about deportation, an image we try to unsee but that needs to be shared again and again <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It’s so graphic BECAUSE the few sentences remind me of so many shoeless differently clad women behind closed doors. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Good visual through writing . Punchy .<\/em><\/p>\n

Love the topic, the expression of the author <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Poignant imagery through few words <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Democracy did neva stands for DEMON-stration the CRAZYness. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

because of the airports ; ) <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Beautiful and timely <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Because it moved me to tears. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It says, showing mostly, a lot in so few lines. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Accurate! <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It’s poetic, tells an important story and doesn’t shy away from the brutal reality of the West. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Injustice on so many levels <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Stark imagery, laid bare and stripped. Tells a whole story in few words. Beautiful!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

…Her books, poets, short stories although fiction, takes the reader into a world of hidden reality where events and practices are not much talked about or recounted for the future generations to know about…
\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It deals with a very PERTINENT and CURRENT issue. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Brings an image of immigration in simple way <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The theme is relatable worldwide. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Inspiring, original and soul searching writing! <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Because it tells a powerful story in such a small space of justice and of looking beyond what we see to the truth. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Clementine\u2019s Because will get my vote anytime. Because, this piece resonates with me. It reminds me. I don\u2019t get that lately! I really hope it wins. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It’s simple and beautiful with a message that’s particularly relevant at this time.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Very well written and topical <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It’s simply beautiful<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When sifting through all the comments on our shortlist for May’s Pick of the Month, in amongst the ‘beautifuls’, ‘powerfuls’, ‘movings’ and ‘evocatives’, one comment in particular stood out. In response to Clementine E. Burnley’s poem which looks at the injustice and indignity associated with deportation, someone had written ‘relevant to me’. And at that […]<\/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":[138],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2019-poetry-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19498","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=19498"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19511,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19498\/revisions\/19511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}