First up, apologies for the sound. As we say in Scotland ‘it’s blawin an absolute hoolie’ (windy as f*ck), but the sun was shining and it felt right to get outside to unfurl a beautiful poem that is firmly rooted in nature by Zaffar Kunial. That said, his poem Hawthorn is far more than an ode to a spiky wee bush. In just 14 lines he manages to paint a picture with a nod to the familiar whilst also exploring memory and its role in feeling truly part of your surroundings (at least, that’s where my head went) using all the senses and hanging them from a name. I love his poetry and I find myself tugging at different meanings every time I revisit it. In England’s Green Zaffar hones in on specific sounds, words, parts of words and images allowing the reader to dissect them before building them back up to twist the ending of the tale you had expected to read. The question when reading these poems is never ‘what do they mean?’, but ‘what do they invoke and where do your thoughts roam?’ Far and wide, familiar and strange, and always with a beauty that thrills. Grab a copy here and/or find out a heap more here. And, as I said in the video, I’ve found Zaffar’s Instagram to be a valuable and eye-opening source of shared content focused on the on-going genocide playing out in Palestine. So, with that in mind - CEASEFIRE NOW, and free Palestine.
(Apologies for the mistakes towards the end of the captions…🤦🏼♂️)
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