Poems about the V&A: 'Handle with care' by Nii Parkes

The Ardabil Carpet, Iran, 1539-40. Museum no. 272-1893

Four corners,
one sun.
It's what the world was
before it turned into itself;
this surface reflecting
in its dark wealth
the mystery of ages past
woven
into the present.

Around the sun
sixteen lovers, intricate.
I imagine the hands
crafting these satellites
with nonchalant verve
fingers feverish with the twine
beneath a cloud of gossip
or song.

Like my mother
berating us as she braided
my sister's hair
changing her rhythm
and tenderness with her mood,
her song, her memories;
my sister's hair becoming
a map of her passions.

This carpet
wrought in the colour of blood
from the random
prickles of its weaver's memory;
the smell of eglantine,
its olive green stem,
a child crying in the night,
the silver sheen of a cypress,
last night's conversation;
drifting in and out of the weave
like breath,
is a map.

This carpet
with its gold encrusted lamps
lovingly embalmed
in the eternal sweat
and dedication
of its weaver,
the pride of Persia,
is a prayer
uttered with simple faith;
the unquestioning belief
of my grandparents
in the religion that enslaved us,
my silent moments of homage to God.

This carpet
laden with 320 knots per square
inch of weaving
is a love letter.
Each knot a heartbeat displaced,
a breathless pause;
each knot an orgasm,
a reason to continue,
a musical note …
Each knot is defiance;
a colour-coded message
entwined on the axis
of possibilities.

Each knot
is a lock of hair
a strand
in the fabric of humanity:
Handle with care.

About the author

Nii Ayikwei Parkes was born in the UK in 1974 and raised in Ghana, West Africa. He writes poetry, prose and articles and is the author of three poetry chapbooks; 'eyes of a boy, lips of a man' (1999) and 'M is for Madrigal' (2004) and the self-published 'shorter' (2005), which is a vehicle to raise money for a writers' fund in Ghana.

Nii has performed poetry all over the world on major stages like the NuYorican in New York, The Royal Festival Hall in London, Java in Paris and Paradiso in Amsterdam as well as at festivals such as the Lancaster Literature Festival and the Austin International Poetry Festival. In 2002 he completed a six-week tour of the United States, and in 2003 he was given an Arts Council Award for his just completed novel, The Cost of Red Eyes, which was the subject of a recent radio documentary on the publishing industry. Nii was a 2005 associate Writer-In-Residence on BBC Radio 3 and was the featured face for poetry in the 2004 Time Out London Guide.