Shards of Venus

A poetic collaboration featuring

words by Kathryn Carter

+ photographs from ‘mama 恋 love (new) Hannya edition’

by Japanese artist Hideka Tonomura.

roses that by

Naked in the smoke 

of Ōwakudani

they tranquilise terror felled 

in forests of ash and ice

anchored in concrete soil 

tilled by spectres nursing roses 

that by any other name 

would smell [not] as sweet.

kerosene and honey

Suture broken wings

of fallen doves in the crimson umbra

birthed by Kagutsuchi’s fire

alight between glass sheets 

baptised by kerosene and honey. 

[They are]

witnessed by kami 

who claw the winds

that fuel their jasmine flames.

shards of Venus

Bathed by asteroid dust 

they inhale shards of Venus

extracted from the abyss

between soul and bone.

Scarred by shrapnel 

of voluntary sins 

committed in quiet

beneath exiled stars.

The new edition of “mama 恋 love” marks the first republication of Hideka Tonomura’s sensational debut photo book since its initial release in 2008.

You can explore Tonomura’s work further at shashasha 写々者.

You can read more of Kathryn’s poetry here.