The new Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘The Hollow’ by Rhiannon. In her Q&A interview she says that she grew up in a family where writing poetry was considered "something of a tradition", won a poetry competition at the age of nine, and has a soft spot for Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. She has recently returned to writing poetry after a break of over 10 years, after starting a literature degree.  

 

What got you into writing poetry?

I started writing poetry at a very young age, as my family are from north Wales and it's considered something of a tradition! It was always something I enjoyed, playing with words, finding different ways to express my observations about people and my surroundings.

 

How long have you been writing?

I won a poetry competition when I was nine and started writing poetry regularly from that point, up until adulthood when I took a break for over a decade. I then decided to start a literature degree as a mature student at the age of 30 and felt inspired to start writing again.

 

Do you go to any open-mic nights?

I never have, though I might consider it if the wine was flowing.

 

What’s your favourite poet/poem?

'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

 

You're cast away on a desert island. What's your luxury?

Would food and drink be considered a luxury? If not, a notepad and a pencil. The poet in me would find being a castaway quite inspiring, but perhaps I've watched too much Lost and not read enough Lord of the Flies.

 

 

THE HOLLOW

by Rhiannon

 

I built you a chamber
in the landscape
of my mind

 

And there I kept
your name,
your sound

 

The air inside
bounced all around

 

It sucked itself
a yawning hollow
in the earth

 
Then carried
on the wind,
became 
dispersed

 

The echo aches,
driving
broken ice
across the face

 

Silver streams
pass slowly
through the space

 

When I look over
at the hollow
that I made,
I am afraid

 

I fear the hollow
and its monstrous gaze.