New Poetry by Abigail George

The education of stars in outer space

(for the Dutch poet Joop Bersee)

Encountering the words of an artist.
Words the dreams of an artist. The
marvelous substance of the shine of a
meteor is stuck there unparalleled. It
is like the education of stars colliding
in the inheritance of outer space. The Nobel
prize does not mean he is far superior.
It means he is a teacher. We are two
writers. Two winters. He is older. I am

younger than he is. The lessons that
I am learning from him is not lost on
me. This meeting point of two strangers.
In dreams trees can grow out of sidewalks
without any water. Johannesburg is not
as ancient as the fields are in London.
We are two writers. It does not matter
where we find ourselves. Or our winters.


- Abigail George 2018

Pushcart Prize nominated for her fiction “Wash Away My Sins” Abigail George is a South African-based blogger at Goodreads (link on Piker Press), essayist, poet, playwright, grant, novella and short story writer. She briefly studied film at the Newtown Film and Television School in Johannesburg. She is the recipient of writing grants from the National Arts Council in Johannesburg, the Centre for the Book in Cape Town and ECPACC (Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture Council) in East London. Her writing has appeared numerous times in print in South Africa, in various anthologies, and online in e-zines based across Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Ireland, and the United States. She is the writer of eight books including essays, life writing, memoir pieces, novellas, poetry and a self-published story collection. She lives, works, and is inspired by the people and mountains of the Eastern Cape of Southern Africa.