Listen to the world’s best poetry read out loud.
Poetry Archive Now Wordview 2025: Persieds, 2025
by Gwyn Parry
Poetry Archive Now Wordview 2025: Persieds, 2025
We are lying together in the heather
on a mountain at midnight,
the moon rolling high above Eryri.
Our skin glows aluminium
this bright summer night,
two pale ghosts stretched out
under the watch of heaven.
In the silence of a heatwave we hope
for the bright scratch of meteors,
the dust of a long ago comet’s tail
skating along the atmosphere.
Flat on our backs we hold hands and wait,
and wait, stare up into never ending space.
‘Too many satellites’, you whisper.
A flash at the edge of my eye, peripheral, gone.
You see five strong beautiful tails of light.
I missed most of them tonight.
I was busy holding you gently
down to Earth,
my head an anchor
at the nape of your neck.
A special thank you to our WordView 2025 poets.
Hear from some our winners this year on what the Archive and winning has meant to them:
"I feel deeply grateful to be taking part in the chorus of voices honoured by PAN Worldwide 2025. Leonard Cohen famously sang that “every heart to love will come, but like a refugee.” For me, the same might be said of poetry. I came to the writing of it late, and thank The Poetry Archive for providing the encouragement to continue being brave in sharing it." - Michelle Robin Visser.
"I think it shows the importance of live spoken word to share poetry as equally as the printed word for some audiences." - Steve Harrison.
"Being part of the PAN Worldwide 2025 collection alongside 17 incredible poets from across the globe is both an honour and a reminder of the unifying power of poetry. Moving forward, I think this experience will stay with me, it has encouraged me to continue writing with honesty and openness, and to remember that my voice is part of something much larger than myself." - Panya Banjoko.
See the collectionWatch the full Wordview 2025 playlist