Featured Poetry Collection (4) - Somebody Give This Heart A Pen - Sophia Thakur

Week 4 then - who’s up to shout about Mr J?

I’ll tell you who I’m going to shout about. Sophia Thakur and her 2019 collection “Somebody Give This Heart A Pen”

Let’s ignore that the TV station who quoted her on the cover is now but a distant memory of Gen X’s everywhere (adios MTV…) - this collection is awash with emotion, with personal journeys and stories of identity that immerse you entirely in Sophia’s world. (Well, her world as it was in 2019 - life has taken her lots of very exciting places since! )

The words are raw, completely open and exactly what you need when you are trying to fathom out ‘who you are’. Something I could have done with as an aide memoir between the ages of 15-45.

It’s a superbly crafted book and for those of you that love a tactile volume, it’s beautifully made. Perfect size, nice heavy (but not too heavy) paper and some well delineated chapters marked by black & white pieces inverted on the page. Gorgeous.

Got a favourite Paul?

This section would feel pretty pointless if I didn’t right?

It’s definitely this one. I connected with that mid afternoon dread Sophia appear to have. I often get a 3pm anxiety moment and I have times where sleep is really the only cure for the overwhelming worry of the day.

You may take other things from the piece, but that’s where it connected with me.

Slow Sky, Move On By

Lingering an extra lifetime above only my head why won't this day end?

It's been 3 PM for six hours

the clouds are hardening

the wind has dropped to the ground

and I'm seconds away from doing the same.

I just want to go again, already...

I want to wake to a forgetful sun

I want to leave this afternoon where it is

and rush the night along.

I want to feel as close to the darkness as my skin

and slide right into 2 AM

so I can cry and hurt in peace

until I empty myself to sleep

and then wake, maybe better

but probably wishing this poem over again,

by 8 AM

Bits of info you might need if you’re trying to buy it/find it in the library

First published: 2019

Publisher: Walker Books

Number of poems: 60+