Miller’s Hurricane Humberto Poem Published

Bermudian poet Nancy Anne Miller will have two of her poems published in adda, a London based magazine that publishes Commonwealth writers.

The statement about the intention of the journal says, “adda is run by Commonwealth Writers, the Cultural Programme of the Commonwealth Foundation. We publish writing by Commonwealth citizens in a range of genres and languages.

“In Bengali, adda describes an informal but lengthy conversation; in Hindi, the word traces its origin to that for a ‘perching spot’ for birds; in the Punjab, an adda is a pit-stop on long highways where travellers rest and exchange news. Put simply: adda is a meeting place.

“Adda has published such internationally known writers such as the Nigerian writer Ben Okri, the Trinidadian writer Vahni Capildeo, and Jamaican writer and environmentalist Diane Macaulay.

“The edition that Ms. Miller is published in is dedicated to climate change and featured the following poem about Hurricane Humberto:

Hurricane Humberto

The fallen palmetto tree bars the road,
nature blocks man’s journey. The Make
Way sign down. The Ber News photos

peaceful without humans on South Shore.
Just nature roaring through, one poinciana
branch, a large lizard knocked out of its

domain without anything to hold onto.
The video I watch shows casuarinas fidgety
around houses, lively as baby fingers above

a pram as the wind bawls. On the lawn at
Inwood, a fallen paw paw fruit and trunk,
bat and ball left out in the rain. A friend

tells me the earth is trying to get rid of us.
Here, an uprooted mangrove tree is
the storm’s wishbone, keen to eliminate

occupants. One roof wrapped in plastic,
like an islander might wind around
the head in a squall, turquoise as a surgical

cap after chemotherapy. In the bright
sunshine and quiet, after Hurricane Humberto
has gone back out to sea, left the island

with palms bent over, converts to a
ruthless doctrine, the white washed
roofs line up into paper soldier hats.

The link to the full climate change edition is here.

The poem is part of the poet’s ninth collection, Latitude Longitude to be released in 2021 from Kelsay Books.She is published internationally in journals such as Edinburgh Review, Poetry Ireland Review, Salzburg Review, Agenda, Stand, The Fiddlehead, Pree, The Caribbean Writer. She has an MLitt in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow, is a MacDowell Fellow, and Bermuda Arts Council Grant recipient.”

#BermudaPoetry #GoodNews #NancyAnneMiller

Category: All, Entertainment