This Is Not A Rescue Archives

Posted on May 26, 2023May 26, 2023 by Seren Books

Friday Poem – ‘When in Recovery’ by Emily Blewitt

Photo of a single baby pink balloon painted on a white bright wall

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘When in Recovery’ by Emily Blewitt from her collection This is Not a Rescue.

When in Recovery
Get out of bed. Feed the cat.
Add a level teaspoon of sugar to builder’s tea and stir clockwise.
Resist the urge to stick your knife in the toaster.
Be reckless enough to descend hills at a decent pace
but pick your mountains wisely. Get out of breath.
Focus on words, wasting them. Take citalopram –
four syllables, once a day, behind the tongue.
Understand that there are days you watch yourself
as though you are a balloon held aloft your body
by a slip of string you fear will break.
Grow your hair. Buy exotic oils at discount stores
and comb them through. Think in colour. Sit in the salon and explain
no blue is blue enough now. Try red – pillar-box, satanic red.
Enjoy the sharp press of the needle, its single tear of blood
when you pierce your nostril. Put a diamond in it so it winks.
Accept that sun-worship is good, the Vitamin D produces serotonin
and sensation. When you cry, howl at the moon.
Wear your rituals lightly. At the end of each day, step out of them
as though they’re expensive silk lingerie.

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Simon appleby

Friday Poem – ‘Navigation Points’ by Emily Blewitt

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘Navigation Points’ by Emily Blewitt from her collection This Is Not A Rescue.

This cover shows a painting of a tabby cat with it's shadow set against a sandy stone background. The text reads: This Is Not A Rescue. Emily Blewitt. 'a riotus, cacophonous and wonderful book.' - Jonathan Edwards

In This Is Not A Rescue we are introduced to a poet whose voice is fresh and striking, who writes both forcefully and tenderly about refusing to be rescued, rescuing oneself, and rescuing others. This book is about finding love and keeping it, negotiating difficult family and personal struggles, and looking at the world with a lively, intelligent and sardonic eye.

Navigation Points
Crossing the bridge, you find me
by touch alone; have turned off
your sat nav, dipped your lights.
You feel your way
past landmarks, signs,
the steady flow
of traffic.
When you arrive, though,
I am still at the threshold.
Standing by streetlight,
I think I am lost.
You smile, then,
lead me gently inside;
draw the curtains,
undress me by sight.
You lower your long dark lashes
just once: to trace your route
across my skin.
These moles, you say,
fine points for navigation.
You’ll map my constellations, you explain,
know me anywhere.

This Is Not A Rescue is available on the Seren website: £9.99

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Posted on January 18, 2019 by Simon appleby

Friday Poem – ‘Wrecker’, Emily Blewitt

Our Friday Poem this week is ‘Wrecker’ by Emily Blewitt, from her debut collection, This Is Not A Rescue.

Blewitt’s poems move in various registers, keyed to their subject-matter. There are pieces that take a playful approach to the author’s native Wales, which resist cliché by subverting our expectations. Elsewhere there is a sharpness and a satirical slant, which contrasts with some intensely personal lyrics that touch on childhood trauma, on depression, on sexual and domestic violence. The revealing honesty of these pieces makes for compelling reading.

Catch Emily Blewitt at the Seren Cornerstone Poetry Festival – she will be performing alongside Kim Moore and Katherine Stansfield in the ‘Opening Buffet’ event. Tickets available now.

This Is Not A Rescue is available on the Seren website – half price until midnight, Sunday 20 January: £4.99

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Simon appleby

Friday Poem – ‘This Is Not A Rescue’, Emily Blewitt

Friday Poem Emily Blewitt This Is Not A Rescue

Last night we squeezed into packed Waterstones Cardiff to hear Emily Blewitt read from her brand new collection, This Is Not A Rescue. Today we are thrilled to feature the title poem here on the blog as this week’s Friday Poem.

In This Is Not A Rescue Emily Blewitt writes both forcefully and tenderly about refusing to be rescued, rescuing oneself, and rescuing others. This book is about finding love and keeping it, negotiating difficult family and personal struggles, and looking at the world with a lively, sardonic eye.
The title poem reconfigures the hurt and healing relationships can offer in terms of fire and water. Swimming grants a strange, beautiful freedom, shot through with hidden dangers, such as ‘the pebbles that in secret you have sewn into your skirts’. An exploration of human connection, this poem gently stirs up feelings of adventurousness, daring, love.

This Is Not A Rescue is available from the Seren website: £9.99
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