love symbols spoken in a chinese winter
I am grown tall in the telling of the yellow
that the dance leaves a signal for,
finishing the ridge in a luminous squall,
wanting your white elk-breath and the hoof-pound
at my door. I am the first blade turned black in winter
curled blunt; red-throat-berry-threading the snow.
I am the first blade turned black in winter,
twisting under, green-blade-wanting.
Helen Pletts (www.helenpletts.com) (Instagram @helen.pletts) Working collaboratively as Word & Image by Pletts & Berger with illustrator Romit Berger, since 2011 (published exclusively online by www.inksweatandtears.co.uk). ‘The plane tree entertains the circus of doves’ won Ink Sweat &Tears Pick of the Month, March 2019. Helen’s poetry was shortlisted for Bridport Poetry Prize 2018, 2019 and 2022, longlisted for The Rialto Nature and Place Competition 2018 and 2022, longlisted for the Ginkgo Prize 2019.
Romit Berger: “I am a graphic designer. I met my very dear friend, Helen Pletts, in Prague, several years ago. Helen’s inspiration has led my graphic design career into that magical realm which combines illustration and poetry, and our creative wings continue to connect our souls through time and distance.”
Pletts & Berger’s Word & Image collection your eye protects the soft-toed snowdrop is published in hardback by Gama Poetry Press 2022 https://www.gamaisrael.com/poetry.
A limited number of copies will be available from IS&T in the new year. Please contact Kate at enquiries@inksweatandtears.co.uk for details.