The 3am Club
Ed. Victoria Bennett
Written by the poets of the Wild collective, this all-new poetry anthology from Wild Women Press shares the common thread of nocturnal inspiration, either directly referring to the poet's witching hour of 3am, or else created during periods of poetic insomnia. Showcasing five emerging young poets, alongside three of the original Wild Women poets, the voices are as diverse as the poets themselves, with their varying ages, genders, themes and styles. Yet, like the Wild collective itself, they are all connected.
Lewis Baker, Victoria Bennett, John Challis, Sarah Gasson, Gill Hands, Ed Lomax, Ruth Snowden, Oliver Turrell
“...This collection marks a leaping off of five of these graduates plus three members of the original Wild Women poets. The closeness and interconnection of the group makes for an interesting blend of work essentially springing from one source...This is a collection worthy and necessary for your poetry shelf. The embryonic and established talents of the poets is to be applauded...”
(John Cartmel-Crossley, NHI)
July 2006 48pp
ISBN 0-9536989-8-X
UK £5
Extract
The Changing Moon's Face
I wake at 3am, longing for you, and watch
as the moon scatters powder from a silver compact,
over her small-poxed face,
then chases the buttermilk glow of sun
across the ripped ribbon of sky,
pulling oceans towards her in frustrated rage.
She gossips with the stars the next night,
telling them of the sun's wheat-coloured hair
and scent of bleached hydrangeas,
and how, come Autumn, he will send her
gifts of golden leaves in the breeze.
She will turn these brittle with frost,
before sending them back to him
in a wind as cool as steel cutlery.
All nights after, I have seen her weeping,
her eyes dark with run mascara,
the sky troubled, rain lashing at my window.
Far in the distance, I spot Venus,
a chain of cloud-patterns slung casually
around her neck, her face rosy and blushed;
a love letter spelt out to her in the sunset.
Sarah Gasson
