“The Sea” by Tim Jones — A Tuesday Feature
The Sea
The sea does not negotiate.
The sea does not read communiques released at the end of others’ negotiations.
The sea is not subject to the constraints of the electoral cycle.
The sea welcomes contributions from anywhere.
The sea welcomes water from the Greenland icecap and the glaciers of Antarctica.
The sea welcomes your input.
The sea is not interested in money.
The sea does not accept donations from oil, gas or coal companies.
The sea neither knows nor cares about your new eco-friendly logo.
The sea is not a hostage to powerful interests.
The sea does not accept that it’s hard to get traction on some issues.
The sea does not believe in softening the blow.
The sea does not mean any harm.
The sea rises because all that meltwater has to go somewhere.
The sea does not apologise.
The sea is uninterested in the ten-year planning horizon used by local authorities.
The sea has never recommended investing in coastal property.
The sea and your doorstep will soon become close friends.
.
© Tim Jones
The Sea is published in Tim Jones’ new collection New Sea Land (Mākaro Press, 2016). It is previously unpublished.
—
New Sea Land is Tim Jones’ fourth collection of poetry, following Men Briefly Explained (IP, 2011).
Tim says: “I wrote the great majority of the poems in this collection during 2015, and I think it’s my most unified collection yet. It’s all about the land, the sea, and – in the second half of the book – the way the sea and the land interact, and what we are beginning to experience as the sea rises up to claim the land.”
Although I have not yet had the pleasure of reading this very recently published collection, my enjoyment of Tim’s previous work and confidence in his voice meant that I was keen to feature a poem and the book ‘as soon as may be.’
Choosing only one from the selection Tim sent me was also a challenge but in the end I had to go with The Sea because I really liked the way the poem manages to address a serious topic while simultaneously lampooning stock political (non) responses to climate change — and does so with a wry, almost deadpan “voice”.
I hope you enjoy it as well and check out New Sea Land for yourself.
—
About The Poet:
Tim Jones is a poet and author who was awarded the New Zealand Society of Authors’ Janet Frame Memorial Award for Literature in 2010. He has published one novel, two short story collections, and three previous poetry collections, and has co-edited two anthologies.
For more, see http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/
You can also follow Tim on Twitter: @timjonesbooks