Friday Poem – ‘Under One’s Hat’ by Hannah Hodgson

~ Seren Books

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘Under One’s Hat’ by Hannah Hodgson from her debut collection 163 Days.

This cover shows a photo of the artist Sue Austin diving underwater in her wheel chair. The text reads: 163 Days Hannah Hodgson.

Hannah Hodgon is an award-winning poet and a palliative care patient. In her compelling debut collection 163 Days, she uses a panoply of medical, legal, and personal vocabularies to explore what illness, death and dying does to a person as both patient and witness.  

“Hannah Hodgson takes us to the paradoxical heart of poetry itself” – Caroline Bird

Under One’s Hat My mother thinks my tongue is retractable tape. That I reveal too much, that I’m not good at keeping secrets. One of my friends said the only reason he can keep things quiet, is his body has the handy feature of forgetting. Never registering which truths belong to who, blank pages recorded in place of events. Part of it is my inheritance. My nan is a lethal gossip. I’m a witness to so many lives unspooling, that I’ve stopped waiting for the Police to arrive and collect statements. Truth is slippery. There’s a reason why water polishes riverbeds and stones. I close my mouth around the things I know, lock them inside of me as treasure. I understand now, why NHS noticeboards are laminated. It’s because of blood. Turns out, doctors can’t keep secrets either. They hide them, chirping, tiny birds nesting in their desks; fed by a tiny paintbrush.

163 Days is available on the Seren website: £9.99

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Listen to a radio play of 163 Days on the BBC New Creative Website

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