October is a month for poetry, declared by the annual mass celebration of National Poetry Day (NPD) on October 6th. NPD sparks nationwide activity in a range of public spaces both at home and online. All of this is done to bring people together in celebration of the power of poetry. The event is a collaboration of authors, designed to be enjoyed by all ages. This year the tradition continues. Enthusiasts have gathered across the country to discuss the new theme of the environment. This article takes a closer look at three poems from this year’s selection, to see how this topic is explored by different creatives.
Credit: nationpoetryday.co.uk
May a transsexual hear a bird? – Harry Josephine Giles (she/they)
“Whether the fact that I have not heard from my trans sister in over a month means she is in severe mental health crisis or simply working,
and whether I have the strength and love to call her,
to remember to hear a bird.”
Giles creates a juxtaposition of peace and struggles that backdrop these characters. Her concern about her trans sisters’ safety, and their worry about whether they have the strength to call up a friend for fear of them not answering. All these considerations draw out the complexities of the transexual experience relayed in this piece. In this poem, Giles shows us their environment in its honest form, holding within it both turmoil and beauty. An environment that can be made hostile through the remembrance of the private struggles of those within this space that impede valuable community connections. This piece describes the complexities of the environment for sentient beings, it speaks a truth about the complexities of human existence in a world that holds up conceptual values, propriety and political labels.
“May a transsexual hear a bird?
When I, a transsexual, hear a bird,
I am a transsexual hearing a bird,
when you hear a bird you are
a person hearing a bird, that is,
I am specific, you are general”
Parts of this poem touch on the politicisation of life; working in too many political meetings and scolding parliamentarians. Giles’ political identity is approached throughout the poem; Giles addresses this by discussing the idea of transexuals over people. The legal term ‘transexual’ is used as the PC-labelled identity of those changing any aspect of sex, Giles writes. She writes of how those identified as just people are awarded anonymity. In the political environment, people can live generally, the transexual is annexed into the specific. One of the powers of Giles’ writing is her challenges against the conformist ideas, cloaked over her by the political realm. She breaks away from the restrictions of political correctness and gives her characters the identity freedom of the unnamed bird; with flexible brains and the ability to exhibit behaviours of both men and women. Giles brings out the fact that we are not so far from our natural world once we disconnect from human-made restrictions and conventions. Engaging in such behaviour as an expression of authentic self can bring us closer to nature than ever as we see this behaviour mimicked in the wider natural world.
Litter is Rubbish – Tony Walsh (he/him)
“Just chucking mucky yucky stuff from trucks and cars and vans,
And flicking icky sticky stuff and kicking cola cans”
Self-taught, Manchester-based poet Tony Walsh has commented that this poem was ‘written for children but adults can enjoy it too’. Walsh uses an ancient rhyming couplet throughout, which gives his work musicality and a humorous, light-hearted tone as he describes the ‘yuckiness’ of littering. His work frequently mixes the mundane with the profound to show that simple actions that are part of everyday life are not without their consequences. This poem is less complex in its length and simple in its rhyme. In doing so, draws attention to a public problem. The musicality of his work builds the memorability of this poem and the sticky-icky residue of everyday waste that gets left on our streets.
Flowers of Brass – Sylvia Legris (she/her)
“The virtues of earth are the virtues
of guts, gall, metallurgy and nerve.”
“Earths sapid and insipid.
Earth that tastes like copper and zinc.
Earth as bland and coral and chalk”
Sylvia Legris’ three-part poem is an exploration of the poet’s depiction of the virtues of the natural world. Throughout her work we are reminded of earth's capabilities; to naturally medicate, to produce elements, and to create the corals of our oceans. The metallurgy that Legris writes of refers to the production and purification of metals. All of these give meaning behind the title of her poem ‘Flowers of Brass’ as a description of the blooming natural world that has long been the backdrop to civilisation. Legris creates stunning imagery of the natural world, her references to the elements bring out a rich evocation of just how much the earth manifests within itself.
The concept of the environment is stretched beyond the literal in these poems. The theme of our natural world becomes more empowered when it is considered as a theme that runs through our lives rather than adjacently to it. The environment is something we all interact with; it creates the parameter of daily life. These poems have been selected because their work is centred on this idea.
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