|
A statement that seventeen-year-old Bryony Harrower
turns to again and again; indeed, her verbs, nouns and metaphors
become somewhat materialistic, with the overall tone announced in
the opening line: ‘The blank page is harder to break than silence’.
Herein are poems that cling to affection and intent but hold at
times those hurtful moments, though all are trimmed with instrument
precision. And it may well be that her observations give rise to
expressions of wonder, an aesthetic tingle, if you like – ‘your
welcome scent soaking through the dense weight of heritage’ – where
the narrative vibrations linger long after the closing of each poem.
So, yes, be it flight of fancy or the sheer direct, the reader is
led through journeys of commitment, where among the serious
interplay there’s room enough for a mind game or two. Chess with the
Earl of Leicester, anyone?
Comments on what love is like in ink:
Bryony is talented, has the curious eye of Alice in Wonderland and a
forceful need to filter what she sees… a kaleidoscopic view of the
world… and [instilling] in you the reader maybe a rainbow.
Lemn Sissay. Hon.D.Litt. South Bank Centre Artist in
Residence,
supported by The Paul Hamlyn Foundation. www.lemnsissay.com
Bryony is a poet of allusive intensity who knows how to weave her
work with rumours and sexuality against the backdrop of a liquid
landscape.
Caroline Bird, poet and Arvon tutor
This slim collection of poems both surprises and delights.
Surprises, not only because the poet is still only seventeen years
old, but because vivid and unusual metaphors spring effortlessly
from line after line as she explores passion, the frustration and
pain of love in its many guises. Delights, because here is an
unusual sensibility, exercising a wonderful talent with both words
and imagery.
Welcome to Bryony’s 'word-world'. It is a rich and rewarding place
to visit. And here is a young poet who is surely set to bring us
even more treasures in the future.
Magi Gibson, poet and children's writer, has held several
writing fellowships and in 2009 was inaugurated as the first Makar
(Poet Laureate) of the City of Stirling in 500 years.
|
|
Sample Poem
Every Last Goodbye
Every last goodbye that slipped
careless from your lips
made me feel like the sky exhaling.
I was a scavenger,
picking up the words you breathed
from the ground and clutching them
in my palms like sweaty coins.
Fistfuls of casual verbs,
meaningless nouns seeping
through my fingers, the way water would
if you hadn’t made me so afraid
of drowning.
Except goodbye.
I choked it down like salt water,
flung from your mouth,
unaware of how much it hurt.
Unaware of the courage it took
not to tell you then and there I loved you.
|
|
Bio: Bryony Harrower’s poetic roots
run back to the day she was born as a Pisces in 1993, and seventeen
years later she remains as idealistic as the fish in the sky. A
sixth year student at Robert Gordon’s College, she currently lives
with her parents and three younger sisters in Alford, and is taking
a gap year in London before applying to study English at university
next year. In her spare time she enjoys reading, arguing and
photographing the beautiful landscapes of Scotland.
|
