Untitled (Derelict, Desert Track)

Derelict, desert track. Dusty

beads of sweat silently slalom down every curve of the face

before accumulating in a base 

formed by the shoulders neck

Face

now towards a child

an outstretched hand accompanied by a smile that slips forced of the lips

distance between a rattle of the mechanised killing that turns 

now towards fathermotherbrothersisterauntuncle 

A pen

The only offering in exchange for twenty years of war

eyes closed, open now, back home again.

The gift of pen in exchange for?

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This piece is a part of a tribute to Exeter student Jaz Kenny. As well as featured online, this tribute will be published in the upcoming print journal.

‘It is a privilege to teach first year students in their first term – to be part of a time of discovery, excitement, and flowering. One student who began her degree in English and Creative writing in 2021, and who was full of promise and imagination, was Jaz Kenny. It was a terrible shock to all of us when we learned that she had died, suddenly, from medical complications, just a few weeks into her time as a student at Exeter. As convenor and lecturer on the introductory Creative Writing module, Write After Reading, I wasn’t lucky enough to get to know Jaz personally; but many of her fellow students were, and so was her seminar tutor, and her death touched all of us deeply. To honour Jaz’s passion for creative writing, her fellow first year Creative Writing students decided to produce a collection of creative tributes to her. Those tributes, together with three of Jaz’s own poems that she composed as part of her course, are included in this special issue, published with love and care by the wonderful team at Enigma Journal. Jaz, and your family, this is for you.’

Ellen Wiles, Lecturer in Creative Writing