This week began with Flooded Memoriesby Himani Rawat Nayal. This was about the Kedarnath Temple in India that survived a flash flood. It is a very poignant poem written as memories, remembering how it looked beforehand. ‘Now, all that is washed away, / Only the Shrine sits the surge.’
On Tuesday we had Young Butterflies by Amy Barry. This was a serious topic about 23 children who were sold for sex and labour in Ireland over the course of a year. We had many comments from our readers for this poem saying ‘heart-wrenching,’ ‘painful,’ and ‘evocative.’ I particularly liked the last line of the poem, ‘their minds flew on imagined wings.’
We changed the tone and went something more humorous on Wednesday with Hairy Stockings by Heather Wastie. This was about hairy stockings in China for women aimed at deflecting unwanted male attention. The main point of the poem was the lines, ‘Is it worth such drastic measures?
Does a look do any harm?’
On Thursday was Bleep Bleep by Philip Johnson. This was about the accusations of British GCHQ using surveillance on international electronic communications, labelled a catastrophe by German politicians. There was anger with this story, sounding like something from a George Orwell novel. I liked the line, ‘my crime is what to corrupt our national security’
On Friday we had The Offer by Luigi Pagano. This was an obituary poem for actor James Gandofini who died aged 51 of a heart attack.
Hope you all had a good week.
Michael.
