Denise Larking Coste, one of our literary adventurers, was long listed for the poetry section of the literateur competition. In addition to being long-listed, several of her poems have been put forward for the showcase section of the TLC website. One of these, gives a wonderful flavour of romance and holiday. We thought you might like to see it in full:
Olive trees tumble green shadow down the cliff,
veil narrow terraces.
A girl sings on a white wall, watching
the blue mating of two seas: crossroads,
noiseless ships strung out over water.
She smokes kif, sips hot minted tea
from a cup on a dusty table.
Dreams of Spain across the straight, seeing
Antaeus, straddled, one foot in Europe
one in Africa: giant back arched like a silent bow.
Then we cuddle and love
and you lie back on fat silk pillows –
your lips moist with red wine –
waiting for the dancing girls to come.
TLC and the Literateur presented the short listed winners at the fully booked Free Word Awards ceremony on11 November, an inspiring evening with readings from both the judges and the participants.
To learn more about the competition and winners see the Literateur website.
