Summer School 2012

The 8th Tower Poetry Summer School for young poets aged 18-23 will be held in Christ Church, Oxford from 28-31 August 2012. The tutors will be Alan Gillis (University of Edinburgh, Scotland) and Kevin Young (Emory University, Atlanta, USA).

 

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Poetry Matters

Poetry Matters is an exciting on-line poetry magazine which provides a fresh, dynamic perspective on poetry issues through a mix of news, reviews and comment.

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Tower Poetry,
Christ Church,
Oxford, OX1 1DP
Tel: 01865 286591
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Winners 2002 : Second Prize

Dhruv Sookhoo

Falling From, Rising To...

Calling to the spirit-scape
To break the tyranny of this frail land,
To a sky tinged with deeper indigo,
Long-awaited, long-anticipated storm-break;

Flood-murmur, thunder
An echo; a sunken meaning
The original Greening

Scant precipitation drives to stottin’ rain,
Coursing down the jagged sandstone,
Widening the river; releasing long-stored water through the rocks,
Dampening, dabbling cobbles once dusted and pale.

Light shimmers on the surface, scatter,
Only to dive back to the bottom
Returning to cling-just to the
Sound of slipping sliver, illusion of matter.

The soak undressing the earth of its umber,
Stripping back copper-tarnish from the land
Giving all the façade of fragility
Weeping it down, down into the sea, pushing on further

Near whisper, vaster
A flash; the old consciousness
Humanity under the one caress

Sensation of lashing rain on the skin,
An Egyptian resurrection, fecundity-flowing,
Transforming what was arid to a glistening veil
Miracle-bound, a sacred skin of silk from within

Water held back by a buckling board
Cundy stoppered; a child-made flood
Satisfaction, joy seeps across the fields
Duck’s din, a clamorous chord reaches across the dusking broad

Framed by hawthorn, a skim, a reflection,
Of the leaden sky flowing to the boundaries
Fields are filling; married to the burn,
The land and ether now bare the same complexion.

Silt held in solution, any impurities hidden,
World viewed through a thick liquid-lens,
Birch; a gift wrapped in a fluid-ribbon,
Drown deep in hope; legacy to future humanity given…

Take my hand, I have many guises; I’ve travelled to many places,
Take my hand, it’s a reflection of yours; closing and opening doors,
I am life, I am death, carried in the moisture of your first and last breath
I can be turquoise-treachery in five letters, anima. I am the emancipating river
No sodden pages can testify to my illustrious rages. No tears, please.
I’ll pour away the last of your watery-winter sun, ice-bound till my spring’s begun
I am the ravenous sea, the teeming rain, I will be what I’ll be,
I am the tranquil pool, I am a jewel within a jewel within a jewel.

…The City Riveted in Reeds

stottin’: bouncing on impact       cundy: a field drain or sewer
 

About Tower Poetry

Tower Poetry exists to encourage and challenge everyone who reads or writes poetry. Funded by a generous bequest to Christ Church, Oxford, by the late Christopher Tower, the aims of Tower Poetry are clear: to stimulate an enjoyment and critical appreciation of poetry, particularly among young people in education, and to challenge people to write their own poetry. Creative writing should be a central element in literary education, and learning about writing poetry can help students to think about ways of reading poetry.

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Publications

The TwelveThe Twelve:

Poems from the 7th Tower Poetry Summer School 2010
Edited by Daljit Nagra and Jo Shapcott
The Twelve contains 56 poems from the 12 young poets who attended the Summer School.