Proof of Life on Earth

By Degna Stone

You live and then you die. That's the only certainty there is, right? Using love as its guide, Proof of Life on Earth, the debut poetry collection by Degna Stone, looks at all the stops between our arrival and our departure. These poems examine matters of the heart (both the metaphorical and medical kind), of race and discrimination, of the body, mind and self – each in forensic detail, attentive and curious of what moves, shapes, and makes us alive.
In between are the landmarks which populate the rich terrain of this collection; not only of our lives through youth to adulthood, but of history, of the long shadows of empire, and of landscapes themselves - especially those of the northeast of England, evocative, rugged and monumental. Stone's deft and scalpel-sharp poetry explores human existence shaped by mortality and experience, and asks what it means to do more than survive – to live in defiance, openness and awareness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nine Arches Press
• Release date: Nov 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781913437596

Degna Stone

Originally from the Midlands, Degna Stone is a poet and poetry editor based in north east England. They are co-founder and former Managing Editor of Butcher’s Dog poetry magazine, and a Contributing Editor at The Rialto. They received a major Northern Writers Award for poetry in 2015. Proof of Life on Earth (Nine Arches Press, 2022) is their debut poetry collection.

Book preview

Love

feels like falling

or maybe

like being high

with no fear

of a comedown

but mostly

it feels

like falling

& I want

to fall

to keep falling

to feel the air

around me

my heart

taking over

my head

or maybe it feels

like floating

if floating

were possible

without the aid

of technology

it doesn’t feel

like parachuting

or gliding

or anything like

control

it’s like falling

into light

into the cold

of a cleansing

fire

being stripped

and reclothed

I should

be afraid

falling means

falling hard

the chambers

of my heart

rearranged

it feels nothing

& everything

like flying

right up

to the point

of impact.

over [prep., adv]

after A. Van Jordan

1. Above or beyond: She sang along to Somewhere Over the Rainbow, never imagining her own shoes could be ruby slippers, could carry her away. When she was a girl, her imagination always led to trouble. She soon learned that daydreamers were fools. Bit by bit she locked her dreams inside. 2. Throughout the duration of: Over the years it became apparent that they couldn’t stand the sight, the smell, the thought of each other. 3. On the opposite side of: They could barely hold a civil conversation over the dinner table. 4. In consideration: She goes over the list of things that piss her off about him every night as she brushes her teeth too hard. The way he talks down to her as if she’s stupid, the way he hates her friends, the way he made her think she loved him, needed him and then grew distant. She spits blood into the sink. 5. In repetition: She scrawled T.L.N.D. across her schoolbooks, carved it around the empty ink well on her desk. Did she really believe back then that true love never dies? Love is not a constant. You must fall in love over and over and over again. 6. In reference to, concerning: What are we fighting over? 7. Too great, excessive: Her mother always told her she was oversensitive. 8. Through all parts of: She stands naked in front of the bathroom mirror looking over her body, running her hands over her skin, trying to remember what it felt like when he touched her. 9. Recovered from the effects of: Though there was never an exact date, she marked every birthday that would have passed. How can you celebrate the birthday of someone never born? Why aren’t you over it by now? 10. Submerge or bury: She sank down and let the water close over her head.

Pallor

After the girls are fed (and you are not),

after they are put to bed and stories are read,

after we