{"id":9462,"date":"2015-10-15T14:01:44","date_gmt":"2015-10-15T14:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=9462"},"modified":"2020-12-09T15:02:10","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T15:02:10","slug":"and-the-pick-of-the-month-for-september-2015-is-antony-owens-pearl-harbour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/and-the-pick-of-the-month-for-september-2015-is-antony-owens-pearl-harbour\/","title":{"rendered":"And the ‘Pick of the Month’ for September 2015 is Antony Owen’s ‘Pearl Harbour’"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are very pleased to be able to announce that the IS&T \u2018Pick of the Month\u2019 for September is Pearl Harbour<\/em> by Antony Owen.<\/p>\n

Antony was inspired by Hada Sensei who was 8 years old when the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. She lost both of her sisters and could not cry for for 50 years as she had a genetic mutation of the tear ducts. He interviewed her earlier this year in Hiroshima. The poem will feature as part of his translated collection, WE ARE MADE FROM BEAUTIFUL ATOMS, to be published next year in Japan<\/p>\n

Antony has very generously and appropriately asked that his ‘prize’ of \u00a310 be donated to the Red Cross<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pearl Harbour<\/strong><\/p>\n

After Jacques Gaucheron<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Hiroshima there are many pearl harbours<\/p>\n

burning in waters of survivors eyes and I have<\/p>\n

watched her oysters prise open through grief,<\/p>\n

a pale glaucoma where the photographed dot<\/p>\n

explodes that day<\/em> in the grief linished pupils.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Hiroshima there were many boats on fire<\/p>\n

floating in the six rivers like Viking burials,<\/p>\n

thousands of rags anchored to the old place<\/p>\n

by limbs caught by trees rigor-mortis, did they<\/p>\n

never want to leave this city of water and fire.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Hiroshima they harvest pearls in the inland sea<\/p>\n

and some use these spent shells for soup bowls or<\/p>\n

or ashtrays, but some hold the tale to their ears and<\/p>\n

hear the dead whispering to those who drank them,<\/p>\n

I am a shadow that once cast a boy, hiding in the open.<\/p>\n

…….<\/p>\n

Voters’ comments included:<\/p>\n

Beautiful words, deep and meaningful.<\/em><\/p>\n

…gives me a sense of the darkness around the period both when the bomb was dropped and today, the reminders and legacy of what happened, very thought provoking.<\/em><\/p>\n

Because this poem tackles an emotive subject with a different perspective on the war<\/em><\/p>\n

The Hiroshima bomb is often discussed as a matter of military history, rather remote from today, but Antony Owen’s poem brings home the horror of the day when the atom bomb struck and also the normal life before (symbolised by pearl fishing) that was cut short by the bomb.<\/em><\/p>\n

Moving, evocative, not afraid to show strong emotion<\/em><\/p>\n

Antony has a rare gift for poetry. No one deserves this more.<\/em><\/p>\n

…….<\/p>\n

Comments on the other short-listed poets included:<\/p>\n

Lily Blacksell, Barnacle Geese<\/em><\/p>\n

I think it speaks straight to you whether you have known such a bereavement or not. The quirky details are what you need to focus on in order not to feel. It moved me a great deal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Wayne F. Burke, Three Haiku<\/p>\n

I love the form.<\/em><\/p>\n

Aiko Greig, Cassowary<\/em><\/p>\n

I wish I had written it myself. It is visceral in its evocation of the Cassowary’s impact on the poet. Most importantly, I believed it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Beth McDonough, Swimming before the May<\/em><\/p>\n

Tremendous use of language took me to a new place .. wild swimming indeed<\/em><\/p>\n

Stella Wulf, Double Take<\/em><\/p>\n

I liked the imagery, the contrasting and jarring scenes between the tea room and the tormented circus bear. I also liked the subtle reference to T.S. Eliot in ‘tea and time’.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are very pleased to be able to announce that the IS&T \u2018Pick of the Month\u2019 for September is Pearl Harbour by Antony Owen. Antony was inspired by Hada Sensei who was 8 years old when the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. She lost both of her sisters and could not cry for for 50 […]<\/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":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2015-poetry-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9462","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=9462"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23680,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9462\/revisions\/23680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}