Disaster by Miriam Calleja

This piece dismantles the actual word ‘disaster’ and manages to subvert the dark moments with an idea of heaven, a sort of afterlife feel. Its deconstruction leaves a lot of room for the reader’s own interpretation. The poem ends upon thoughts of ‘a star’. Perhaps an idea that we do not entirely disappear. – Jane Burn, guest editor

disaster
/dɪˈzɑːstə/

dis- [doing away with]

blotting out the night sky
ink that runs to the core

it will not be watered down

we put up signs
no parking between those lines
we apologise

for any
inconvenience
caused
-aster [a star]

‘Disaster’ was written in the aftermath of the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese journalist, and has been published by Fly on the Wall Poetry Press here: https://www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/post/2018/11/03/in-conversation-with-miriam-calleja

Miriam Calleja is a bilingual poet and Maltese wordsmith. Her poetry collections, Pomegranate Heart (EDE Books, 2015) and Inside Skin (EDE Books, 2016), have been described as ‘fresh’, ‘intimate’, and ‘sensual’. She has been published in a number of journals and poetry anthologies worldwide, and her work has been translated into Slovene, Greek, Romanian, French, Norwegian, and Frisian. She dedicates her time to facilitating creative writing workshops, performing and writing for performances or publications, and devouring books. Read more on miriamcalleja.com.