Impossible Titles by Marion Tracy of East Sussex was awarded joint Fourth Prize by judge Rishi Dastidar in our 2021 Open Poetry Competition.
This is what Rishi had to say about Marion’s poem:
Marion Tracy’s ’Impossible Titles’ is a bravura piece of conjuring, taking as it does a list of 23 potential titles for different poems, and leaving us as readers to piece together what a narrative might be when they are put together. That the titles in of themselves are so brilliant means there are multiple stories lurking here: ”6 Altercations 6 Consolations / The Extraordinary Laughter of Women” could be taken as something breezy or darker depending on taste, for example, and juxtapositions like that are to be found all the way through the poem. Each title has had ferocious attention to its sound paid to it, and overall it positively revels as it hits the air.
Impossible Titles In the Midst of Despair my Right Hand shall Catch Angels. 10 Small Dogs Walking Across Sea Ice Thrashing Tuesday out of the Night Effigies & their Top Ten Hats The Matthew Passion in Naked Doorways Nocturne for the Left Hand Unsent Love Letters Some Viewers might Find this Upsetting Local Reports of Explosions First there is no Mountain, then there is. A Wild Artistry of Birds If a Plumber Rings Don’t tell Her about the Other Plumber 6 Altercations 6 Consolations The Extraordinary Laughter of Women Folderol, Hokum & Flapdoodle The Orange Car is Not a Purple Car A Baby can easily be created in a Small Service Cupboard Occasional Wild Punishments The Magnificence of Elephants The Delicacy of Snails Dark Empowerments and Failures A Male of the Species can Easily be Recognised by his Dangling Right Foot. The Inherent Futility of Our Actions.
The Kent & Sussex Poetry Society 