Out of Sri Lanka
Poetry Book Society Special Commendation Summer 2023 Emma Lee It is uncertain where we

It is uncertain where we are or when

Fornoff finds a kind of consolation in community

thirty-eight years later

‘this is the Congovertiginous with derangementwith its foul & delimited hygienewith its “weaver bird nests”with its sprawling grasslandswith its “ghostly voltage” as flares from old oil rigs

rich in affective imagery

Out of Sri Lanka<br><b>Poetry Book Society Special Commendation Summer 2023</b> Emma Lee It is uncertain where weSri Lanka has thrilled the foreign imagination as a land of infinite possibility. Portuguese, Dutch and British colonisers envisioned an island of gems and pearls, a stopping point on the Silk Road; tourists today are sold a vision of golden beaches and swaying palm trees, delicious food and smiling locals. This favours the south of the island over the north rebuilt piecemeal after the end of the civil war in 2009, and erases a history of war crimes,