From the Edge of All Habitation
I.M. Penny Richardson, 1955-2022
‘We dig deeply into memory and rise
with cut hands and moth-coated throats.
Forfeit all losses and begin again.
This is the law of recovery.’
Written over the course of three years, this first instalment of the Correspondences Series, entitled ‘From the Edge of All Habitation’, documents the poet’s chthonic descent and return through acts of reclusion and immersion within wilderness environments, where spiritual and physical submission to elemental forces can precipitate a recovery from the injurious nature of human experience.
‘From the Edge of All Habitation’ vividly conjures time spent on a wild peninsula of the Irish southwest. Across twenty-six sections it provides vital testimony to a process of rebirth initiated through the offering of the self as a conduit for theurgic forces. Only through such a sacrifice can the path towards wisdom and compassion be revealed; both for the individual and for the ‘illimitable, incandescent life’ which surrounds us.
Correspondences continues Richardson’s previous practice of devotional writing in which the poet acts as a receiver for ‘other’ voices, as exemplified in Ajar To The Night (2020) and The Anther’s Fire (2020). However, the eternal truths received through this process are now tinctured in the poet’s own autobiography, resulting in a work that unflinchingly describes the turmoil and inner darkness that can result from the deepest self-reflection.
‘From the Edge of All Habitation’ was published to honour the Winter Solstice in a Standard Edition of 27 and a Special Edition of 9. The Special Edition incorporated a series of three artworks collaged from the poet’s own photographs of the wild Atlantic edge of Ireland, one of which featured a sigil ritually applied with gold leaf. The text of the pamphlet was accompanied by a further series of poem fragments published in concertina format, along with a unique poem card, and an audio recording of ‘From the Edge of All Habitation’ (with music by Richard Skelton).