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        • Chapter- 1 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
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      • On Poetry & Poets by Abhay K.
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      • Identity Issues in the Poetry of Nissim Ezekiel by Dr.Arvind Nawale & Prashant Mothe*
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      • The Moping Owl : the Epitome of Melancholy by Zinia Mitra
      • Gary Soto’s Vision of Chicano Experiences: The Elements of San Joaquin and Human Nature by Paula Hayes
      • Sri Aurobindo: A Poet By Aju Mukhopadhyay
      • Wordsworthian Romanticism in the Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: Nature and the Reflective Capabilities of a Poetic Self by Paula Hayes
      • Reflective Journey of T.S. Eliot: From Philosophy to Poetry by Syed Ahmad Raza Abidi
      • North East Indian Poetry: ‘Peace’ in Violence by Ananya .S. Guha
    • 2014-2015 >
      • From The Hidden World of Poetry: Unravelling Celtic mythology in Contemporary Irish Poetry Adam Wyeth
      • Alchemy’s Drama: Conflict, Resolution and Poiesis in the Poetic Work of Art by Michelle Bitting
      • Amir Khushrau: The Musical Soul of India by Dr. Shamenaz
      • PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME: POETRY'S EROTIC ART by Elena Karina Byrne
      • Celtic and Urban Landscapes in Irish Poetry by Linda Ibbotson
      • Trickster at the African Crossroads and the Bridge to the Blues in America by Michelle Bitting
    • 2015-2016 >
      • Orogeny/Erogeny: The “nonsense” of language and the poetics of Ed Dorn T Thilleman
      • Erika Burkart: Fragments, Shards, and Visions by Marc Vincenz
      • English Women Poets and Indian politics
    • 2016-2017 >
      • Children’s Poetry in India- A Case Study of Adil Jussawalla and Ananya Guha by Shruti Sareen
      • Thirteen Thoughts on Poetry in the Digital Age by Mandy kAHN
    • 2017-2018 >
      • From Self-Portrait with Dogwood: A Route of Evanescence by Christopher Merrill
      • Impure Poetry by Tony Barnstone
      • On the Poets: Contributors in Context by Donald Gardner
      • Punching above its Weight: Dutch Poetry in English, a Selection, 2013-2017 by Jane Draycott
  • Print Editions

Poems by Eleanor Hooker

Silence
    
Non chiudere le mie labbra aprendo le tue
            
Umberto Eco


Hoarse from speaking to herself
she seals her lips with a single suture.

She has trapped her voice inside, screams
no longer cut her lips to draw another’s blood.

She believes she will sail deeper oceans on this avowal 
of silence. She becomes weightless swallowing

words her thoughts prompt her not to speak.
When I unpick the stitch, she mumbles she has no desire 

to be saved. As she steps up to the liferaft, I take 
her hand, alarmed by this new storm blowing through us. 

​


​
The Shout


The wind is inconsolable.

Crouching to vent my drysuit,
I hear gravel scatter, greeting calls
as my fellow crew rush to change
for the Shout. What’s out there? 

they ask. I tell them what I know. 
‘It’s seven and gusting’, our Launching 
Authority says, ‘’it’ll be rough by Parker’s.’ 
This we already know.

One, two, whacks on my back tell me
crew are seated, feet in stirrups.
With an all clear port and starboard, 
I open the throttle, launch into the maelstrom.

The water is bruised purple and black.  
Our ballast tank full equals the weight
of three men in the bow, keeps our
nose down as we face the turmoil

of this inland sea. On our port side,
a conspiracy of Cormorants
huddle on Salmon Island’s 
rocky crop, keeping watch.

In open water the waves
heap up, retching, dumping turf
stained lake across our bow. I power
up the face then throttle off 

so we don’t take flight at the crest, 
pendulum to a bow over 
stern capsize. By Hare Island
a turn to port and a beam sea

makes us wary of rogue waves
quarter side on. I hold a reserve 
on the helm - to power us away 
from harm if needed, and for safety,

steer in at forty-five degrees.
At Parkers Point with a boxing sea
and pyramid waves, we read all
movement, call it as I steer behind, 

in front and away from breakers.
In my earpiece our Radio 
Operator, seated behind me, transmits 
our location every fifteen to Valentia.

We see them ahead below the Middle 
Ground, side on to weather and sliding
down the shoulder of a breaking wave.
But with nothing beneath them, 

their anchor drags before their makeshift 
drogue snaps them to, bow to weather. 
I ease us in from windward.
A crew climbs across, carrying 

a radio, a smile, First Aid. 
Eight on board, all below
except the skipper, luminescent 
in his orange lifejacket.

My crew shouts to those below, 
reassures them. After a quick survey 
of frightened faces he gets to, 
sets up a bridle before he 

and the skipper haul in anchor
and drogue. I helm into wind to 
cross the T and pass the tow, count
sets as crew pays out line until I call,

‘secure the tow’. As we make way, 
we radio back to centre their rudder.
With an eye to the swell, the wind
and boat astern, we plough a trough, 

ease back as the line groans, then into 
weather we point west through Scarriff Bay, 
steering clear of the Middle Ground. In the lee of Bushy 
Island we shorten the tow, safe harbour in sight at last.

​
Eleanor Hooker is a poet and writer living in Tipperary. Her debut collection, The Shadow Owner's Companion (The Dedalus Press) was shortlisted for the Strong/Shine Award, for Best First Irish Collection 2012. Her second collection of poetry is forthcoming later in 2016. Her poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize (2014) and Forward Prize for Best Single Poem (2014, 2016), translated into Polish and Romanian (upcoming) and published in a number of print journals including: Poetry Ireland Review, POETRY, Agenda, PN Review and The Stinging Fly and in online journals including Southword, The Ofi Press, Poethead and Spontaneity. 
She was awarded 1st Prize in the 2016 Bare Fiction, Flash Fiction Prize. Her fiction has been published in Banshee, The Woven Tale Press and Bare Fiction. She holds an BA (Hons 1st), Open University, an MA (Hons) in Cultural History, University of Northumbria, an MPhil in Creative Writing (Distinction), Trinity College, Dublin. Trained as a nurse and midwife, Eleanor is currently Programme Curator for the Dromineer Literary Festival, helm and Press Officer for the Lough Derg RNLI. 

​

Weblinks:
Eleanor Hooker’s website http://eleanorhooker.com
Eleanor Hooker at the Poetry Foundation http://www.poetryfoundation.org/search?q=eleanor+hooker
Eleanor Hooker at Poetry International website http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/26585/Eleanor-Hooker

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact
    • Media Coverages
    • Copyright Notice
    • VerseVille Blog
  • Submissions
    • Poetry and Essays Guidelines
    • Book Review Guidelines
    • Research Series Guidelines
  • Masthead
  • Editions
    • 2011 Issues >
      • ISSUE-XIV November 2011
    • 2012 Issues >
      • ISSUE-XV March 2012
      • ISSUE-XVI July 2012
      • ISSUE-XVII November 2012
    • 2013 Issues >
      • ISSUE-XVIII April 2013
      • ISSUE XIX November 2013
    • 2014 Issues >
      • ISSUE XX May 2014
    • 2015 Issues >
      • ISSUE XXI February 2015
      • Contemporary Indian English Poetry ISSUE XXII November 2015
    • 2016 Issues >
      • ISSUE XXIII August 2016
      • Poetry From Ireland ISSUE XXIV December 2016
    • 2017 ISSUES >
      • ISSUE XXV August 2017
      • ISSUE XXVI December 2017
    • 2018 ISSUES >
      • ISSUE XXVII July 2018
      • ISSUE XXVIII November 2018
    • 2019 Issues >
      • ISSUE XXIX July 2019
    • 2020 ISSUES >
      • Issue XXX February 2020
      • ISSUE XXXI December 2020
  • Collaborations
    • Macedonian Collaboration
    • Collaboration with Dutch Foundation for Literature
  • Interviews
  • Prose on Poetry and Poets
    • 2010-2013 >
      • Sylvia Plath by Dr. Nidhi Mehta >
        • Chapter-1(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-2(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-3(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-4(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-5(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-6(Sylvia Plath)
      • Prose Poems of Tagore by Dr. Bina Biswas >
        • Chapter-1(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-2(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-3(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-4(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-5(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-6(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-7(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-8(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-9(Rabindranath Tagore)
      • Kazi Nazrul Islam by Dr. Shamenaz Shaikh >
        • Chapter 1(Nazrul Islam)
        • Chapter 2(Nazrul Islam)
        • Chapter 3(Nazrul Islam)
      • Kabir's Poetry by Dr. Anshu Pandey >
        • Chapter 1(Kabir's Poetry)
        • Chapter 2(Kabir's Poetry)
        • Chapter 3(Kabir's Poetry)
      • My mind's not right by Dr. Vicky Gilpin >
        • Chapter- 1 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-2 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-3 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-4 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
      • On Poetry & Poets by Abhay K.
      • Poetry of Kamla Das –A True Voice Of Bourgeoisie Women In India by Dr.Shikha Saxena
      • Identity Issues in the Poetry of Nissim Ezekiel by Dr.Arvind Nawale & Prashant Mothe*
      • Nissim Ezekiel’s Latter-Day Psalms: His Religious and Philosophical Speculations By Dr. Pallavi Srivastava
      • The Moping Owl : the Epitome of Melancholy by Zinia Mitra
      • Gary Soto’s Vision of Chicano Experiences: The Elements of San Joaquin and Human Nature by Paula Hayes
      • Sri Aurobindo: A Poet By Aju Mukhopadhyay
      • Wordsworthian Romanticism in the Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: Nature and the Reflective Capabilities of a Poetic Self by Paula Hayes
      • Reflective Journey of T.S. Eliot: From Philosophy to Poetry by Syed Ahmad Raza Abidi
      • North East Indian Poetry: ‘Peace’ in Violence by Ananya .S. Guha
    • 2014-2015 >
      • From The Hidden World of Poetry: Unravelling Celtic mythology in Contemporary Irish Poetry Adam Wyeth
      • Alchemy’s Drama: Conflict, Resolution and Poiesis in the Poetic Work of Art by Michelle Bitting
      • Amir Khushrau: The Musical Soul of India by Dr. Shamenaz
      • PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME: POETRY'S EROTIC ART by Elena Karina Byrne
      • Celtic and Urban Landscapes in Irish Poetry by Linda Ibbotson
      • Trickster at the African Crossroads and the Bridge to the Blues in America by Michelle Bitting
    • 2015-2016 >
      • Orogeny/Erogeny: The “nonsense” of language and the poetics of Ed Dorn T Thilleman
      • Erika Burkart: Fragments, Shards, and Visions by Marc Vincenz
      • English Women Poets and Indian politics
    • 2016-2017 >
      • Children’s Poetry in India- A Case Study of Adil Jussawalla and Ananya Guha by Shruti Sareen
      • Thirteen Thoughts on Poetry in the Digital Age by Mandy kAHN
    • 2017-2018 >
      • From Self-Portrait with Dogwood: A Route of Evanescence by Christopher Merrill
      • Impure Poetry by Tony Barnstone
      • On the Poets: Contributors in Context by Donald Gardner
      • Punching above its Weight: Dutch Poetry in English, a Selection, 2013-2017 by Jane Draycott
  • Print Editions