Poem
Steve Ely
DEIR EZ-ZOR
DEIR EZ-ZOR
DEIR EZ-ZOR
Four rivers of Eden;Hiddekel, Pison, Gihon, Euphrates.
Adamu’s garden, a woman picking fruit
in the cool of evening,
unfathomed darkness of stars.
Four rivers of Al Jazirah;
Colap, Kharbur, Al Furat, Nahr Dijla.
Ashurbanipal’s garden, orchard and well,
maiden awaiting her lover’s sweet song.
Did he arrive? Shrikes are hunting
through the olive groves, spearing
nightingales on branches.
Jahannam’s four rivers;
salt-tears, urine, diarrhoea, blood.
Zeki Bay’s garden of knives.
Women cooking grass. Children
licking moisture from stones.
© 2014, Steve Ely
From: Oswald\'s Book of Hours
Publisher: Smokestack Books, Middlesbrough
From: Oswald\'s Book of Hours
Publisher: Smokestack Books, Middlesbrough
Steve Ely
(United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1965)
Steve Ely is one of the most exhilarating poets currently working in the UK and is just, at the time of writing, becoming well-known. Oswald’s Book of Hours deals with a sense of Englishness – specifically, northernness – exemplified by the events of a thousand years. Written in rich, textured, idiosyncratic English, the book was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection (2013...
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Poems of Steve Ely
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DEIR EZ-ZOR
Four rivers of Eden;Hiddekel, Pison, Gihon, Euphrates.
Adamu’s garden, a woman picking fruit
in the cool of evening,
unfathomed darkness of stars.
Four rivers of Al Jazirah;
Colap, Kharbur, Al Furat, Nahr Dijla.
Ashurbanipal’s garden, orchard and well,
maiden awaiting her lover’s sweet song.
Did he arrive? Shrikes are hunting
through the olive groves, spearing
nightingales on branches.
Jahannam’s four rivers;
salt-tears, urine, diarrhoea, blood.
Zeki Bay’s garden of knives.
Women cooking grass. Children
licking moisture from stones.
From: Oswald\'s Book of Hours
DEIR EZ-ZOR
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