Helen Evans

Castaway Companions

Helen Evans chooses poems by Mary Oliver, William Stafford and Marie Howe, plus Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Kathryn Maris and Rebecca Elson

Saint George and the Dragon, a painting by Paolo Uccello. . It shows a scene from the famous story of Saint George and the Dragon. On the right, George is spearing the beast, and on the left, the princess is using her belt as a leash to take the dragon up to the town. The eye in the storm gathering on the right of Saint George is lined up with his spear showing there has been divine intervention. The painting is commonly interpreted as an illustration of the legend of St. George as recounted in the Golden Legend. However, Stanford professor Emanuele Lugli has suggested an alternative reading: that the work functions as propaganda, encouraging Florentine elites to adopt agriculture. In medieval symbolism, the dragon was a symbol of pollution, and St. George's slaying of the creature can be seen as a metaphorical reclamation of the land, leading to a pure water source located in a cave.

This barter of enthusiasm 9

Helen Evans, Rachel Burns and Oliver Comins choose poems by U. A. Fanthorpe, Bobby Parker and Tishani Doshi

Collateral

by Helen Evans — And if you let go, for a while, / of whatever is damaging you, / and head for a good place // like this woodland, whose heart / was ripped out by bombs / dropped