Winners 2005 : Third Prize

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).

Find out more >

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.

Miranda Cichy

The Undertaker

Such perfect gravity pulls him down
In swelling tremors. The undertaker sees:
the sky shakes with this threnody,
drawn out as beasts expelling pain
into the quiet. Those choking voices
twist in breaths with each slow step
of foot on stone, he knows how faces
cannot bear the call from dusty air.
Towards the night and far beyond
he shoulders sunlight's darker shade
dressed hard with loss in summer's gaze,
cheeks hollowed cold. Some man is this
who walks among his victims' friends.
Each day is splintered dark as death
while night's bell tolls on still for him,
or drags his mouth low in despair,
like a hungry force, intent on seizing,
that swallows whole its treasures.
There is nothing but the weight of the earth.

There is nothing but the weight of the earth
that swallows whole its treasures
like a hungry force intent on seizing,
or drags his mouth low in despair
while night's bell tolls on still. For him
each day is splintered dark, as Death
who walks among his victims' friends,
cheeks hollowed cold. Some man is this.
Dressed hard with loss, in summer's gaze
he shoulders sunlight's darker shade
towards the night and far beyond;
cannot bear the call from dusty air
of foot on stone. He knows how faces
twist in breaths with each slow step
into the quiet, those choking voices
drawn out as beasts expelling pain;
the sky shakes with this threnody
in swelling tremors. The undertaker sees
such perfect gravity. Pulls him down.

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.

Publications

The 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.