Song of the Sow, Shark, Orangutan and Seepweed
To the sow squealing in her crate, imprisoned
are we who deny your lament for the earth.
To the shark dispossessed of his fin, deprived
are we who sever your harmony with the sea.
To the orangutan ousted from your forest, exiled
are we who destroy your symphony with the tree.
To the seepweed parched by reclamation, choked
are we who stifle your serenading of the swamp.
Siobhan Harvey's ninth book is a memoir entitled What We Remember, What We Forget (OUP, 2026). In genesis, it was highly commended for the 2024 Bridport Memoir Award (UK) and a category winner in the 2025 Memoir Prize for Books (US), will be published later in the year. She won the 2023 Landfall Essay Prize, 2019 UNESCO City of Literature Robert Burn Poetry Prize, 2019 Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems and 2013 Kathleen Grattan Award.
