Hi everyone. Today I have Isabelle Kenyon sharing an excerpt with us for Poetic Justice. You can read the guest post she wrote last year here.
Poetic Justice is a month long event, beginning April 1st to April 30th in honor of National Poetry Month. Throughout April there will be interviews, guest posts, excerpts and other poetic posts. I hope you will follow along. To read the introductory post, you can find out more here
Digging Holes To Another Continent
These poems come from my collection “Digging Holes To Another Continent” published by Clare Songbirds Publishing House, New York. All the poems are set in New Zealand, a fantastic trip with my whole dysfunctional family, after the traumatic time of losing both our grandmother and our family dog. The collection is about grief, reflection and the beauty of the wild landscapes, in which we found peace and healing.
Hahei Beach at 7pm
Heads bobbing like seals,
squeals the unique frequency of teenage years
too old to play sand castles,
adrenaline – coursed veins cannot process the cold without an allergic reaction
(survival purpose: unconscious
attract attention,
a male,
procreate).
Bodies of potential,
naturally bleached
by gentle sun rays.
Beach Thoughts
Yesterday you were beautifully pearly sheened,
white warmth in your embrace,
calm, serene.
Today you give me the washed up,
chewed up
spat out –
no cushioned sand but
pebbled words and
seaweed clings to your tongue,
sours –
You are not who I thought you were.
It did not take a tsunami
but a tidal wave
to change your heart.
Review Quotes:
‘Kenyon explores the difficulty of dealing with a loss in a place far removed from where the loss occurred. She also interrogates the complicated emotions felt upon returning home to a familiar setting, now absent of those loved ones associated with home… Ultimately, Digging Holes to Another Continent is a small but powerful chapbook that carries the reader through the ups and downs of travel, family, love and loss. The final poem (which I will let you read for yourselves!) is an extremely strong and thought-provoking finale. Definitely readable in one sitting, Kenyon’s poems each tell a story on their own, but collected into a chapbook, create a captivating narrative you won’t regret reading.
’ – Beth O’Brien, Mad Hatter Reviews
About The Poet:
Isabelle Kenyon is northern poet and the author of Digging Holes To Another Continent (Clare Songbirds Publishing House). She is the editor of Fly on the Wall Press. Her poems have been published in poetry anthologies by Indigo Dreams Publishing, Verve Poetry Press, and Hedgehog Poetry Press. Her book reviews, articles and blog posts have been published in various places such as Neon Books, Authors Publish, Harness magazine and Five Oaks Press.
www.isabellekenyonpoetry.
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