Night and Phantom Noise
The title could refer to thunderstorms or those odd noises from outside during the night. It doesn't. They are the titles of 2 books. By Elie Wiesel and Brian Turner. On WW2 and the Iraq War.
Why do I read such difficult writing? Does it help?
I pinched Night from my mother in law's bedroom, I did ask first, but it was pretty inevitable that the book would move house for a bit. Family book borrowing is close to burglary! Brian Turner's poems were just sitting there on the shelf in the Didcot Library and I recognised the name, so I broke my own rule of just wanting to borrow a book of photographs.
From Night I see that every so often the writer came across a person who was compassionate and kind. The Polish man in charge of a block, page 41. The Blockalteste who had been in the camps since 1933, page 70/71. In both cases the men are brought to life via their words of advice.
From Phantom Noise I particularly like, not the right word, but anyway, the poem At Lowe's Home Improvement Centre.
The intro to Night is most personal and makes me want Brian Turner to have written a similar open and exploratory intro to his book. I want to know about his studies before and after his military work.
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At the most recent workshop I went to I found myself explaining that a poem by someone isn't enough. I would prefer a poem on one side of the page, prose which is close to them speaking on the other, plus a link to a short video of their actual self speaking and moving. Then I'd be really happy.
That last paragraph perfectly describes a slot at a poetry reading where the person has been told it is ok to give the audience some chat in between the poems.
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