The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘Justice’ by Suzi Challenger. In comments following the posting of the poem, she has said that it was written in response to the much-publicised case of the death of a child at the hands of the child’s father – a death that could have been avoided. But it was also influenced by the memory of a shocking road safety advert about a man haunted by the child he has knocked down and killed. Responding to questions from Write Out Loud, Suzi says she is inspired by poets like Laura Taylor, “a poet of distinction and a woman not afraid of making her voice heard”.

 

 

Is poetry an important part of your life and can you remember when and why it became so?

 I've always loved words and writing, and I've written for pleasure since I was a child, but the point at which poetry became a force in my life was probably following the death of my mother (she took her own life when I was a young teen). We've had our ups and downs over the years, poetry and me, but the compulsion to express myself in this way has never faded.

 

 If you could only have one poet’s work to read (desert island book) which one would you choose and why?

I honestly don't know. I feel like my poetry reading has only scratched the surface of the amazing ocean of work out there. Ask me again in 10 years' time!

 

How do you think your poetry style has changed since you started writing?

I'm more able to detach myself and try and look at the work with an editorial eye. I only ever used to write for myself, usually in times of crisis, so those works were more a personal document than anything else and I felt unable to alter them. Now that I'm getting used to putting my work into the public domain, I view them a bit more objectively and will chop/scrap as required to improve them.

 

Do you perform your work and if so, what advice would you give to other poets like yourself just starting out? If not do you plan to perform in the future?

Until recently I didn't even show my work to anyone ... but I am planning to have a go, just for the challenge. Poetry performance is having such a strong resurgence at the moment and there are so many great poets on the scene - I'm very inspired by Laura Taylor, as both a poet of distinction and a woman not afraid of making her voice heard.

 

What inspires you most when gathering material for new poetry?

People. Our thoughts, our speech, what we're not saying when we're talking; all of our wants and needs and how they tangle up with each other. Quite often, too, I will find a random image or song or something appears in my mind and propels the writing forward - with ‘Justice’, it was that road safety campaign with the guy who sees the child he knocked down and killed everywhere he goes (under his desk, in his bedroom etc.) A very powerful campaign and one that haunted me, as it was meant to, but I hadn't consciously thought about it in years, until I started thinking about how living with a horrible decision might impact on a person.

 

 

JUSTICE

by Suzi Challenger 

 

She is not here

in the garden, in the crunching

of snails,

the careful snip of a rose.

 

She is not here

in my kitchen, puffing out

bags of flour;

no mischief in my measuring out.

 

She is not here

in my study, the place

I planned my retreat

after many long years.

 

She is not here

in my car, the radio

spilling out fresh horrors,

my name sunk again.

 

She is not here

and I cannot answer

all your questions.

It would take a lifetime

to weigh them all.

 

She certainly is not here

slipping into my bed

in the dark of the night,

seeking warmth

as all little lost things do.

 

You cannot know

the evidence on which I based my decision,

the weighted hours I sought

enlightenment

communing with the facts,

the hours I spent

balancing

his words

and his acts.

 

You cannot know.

She is not here.