Postcard 81: a gnarled oak ~ James Brush

My thanks to James Brush, who sent me this beautiful chapbook of 'Haiku-esque' micro-poems all the way from Texas, USA. The blue edge is just a Photoshopped background to ensure that 'a gnarled oak, 2010' shows up on my page.

James prepared this exquisite collection of micro-poetry himself under the aegis of his Coyote Mercury Press, and I feel very privileged to be the recipient of a hand-crafted limited edition.

The poems were apparently largely the fruit of James' perambulations, often with his dogs, in his local area. James re-casts his familiar landscape in a new guise, capturing those little moments that can so easily pass us by: 'it's about actively trying to re-see' the world around him, he explains.

The collection is divided into four seasonal sections, each prefaced with an accompanying photograph. Birds wing their way into a number of these pages. We encounter 'Hawk and Crow' in the Spring poems; 'Purple martins' streak through the Summer; the telltale sound of the 'Chicka-dee-dee-dee' permeates Fall (our UK autumn) - and fogbound mockingbirds and wrens make their entrance in Winter. 

James' world seems a tranquil place on the surface, but there are little ripples and ruffles, ensuring that a sense of reality is never far beneath the surface. We note the gathering of clouds, a 'broken bird nest', 'a barbwire fence', the short span of the dragonfly ... but despite these little hints that there are cracks in the ice, the writer conveys a serene and compelling acceptance of the world in his view.

The poems are exquisite little jewels - or perhaps 'breaths', in the language of Haiku. Thank you, James, for sharing this universe in microcosm.

Postcard 65: Ellicott City, Feathered Friends and the Aroma of Coffee

Those of you who have read my Coastcard blog recently will know that I have entered a poem in the Writelink Spring Fever Competition. All contest poems are posted up on the Writelink site. Contestants have been asked to invite their blog-readers to take a look and to cast a vote for a favourite piece and/or leave a comment. You can find the link to my entry here (with a link to all the other poems), and more details of the contest here. I know we would all value your feedback. Voting closes on 21 March, so the clock is ticking!

Fellow poet, Kay Weeks, from Historic Ellicott City, Maryland, USA invited me to be the guest poet on her blog yesterday. Do join her on A Walk into the Past, where you will begin to learn why Kay and I share a soft spot for members of the auk family.

We have something else in common, too - a passion for the aroma of fresh coffee! Kay says that coffee makes her feel like 'floating on clouds'. I defy you to read about the coffee in the deli in Yates Market without feeling that it must be time for what a certain favourite bear would refer to as 'a little something' (you have to scroll down a bit for this one).

I'm just flying off to fetch my favourite mug. It's time to sample the heightened joy in Kay's 'Coffee' sestina. Thank you, Kay!

P.S. On the subject of coffee, do take a look at Seth Apter's artistic work here, which I have just been enjoying.
P.P.S. Cathy has a delightful puffin picture on her excellent site ... here!

Postcard 64: Kilvey Hill and The Seventh Quarry, Swansea

Kilvey Hill, Swansea
from the SA1 area...

... and from the town.

I was delighted to receive the latest edition, issue 11, of The Seventh Quarry poetry magazine, edited by Swansea poet and publisher, Peter Thabit Jones. This is a substantial magazine with a global outlook, comprising 80 pages of poetry and reviews from Wales, England, Northern Ireland, Italy, Greece, Romania, Lithiania, South Africa and America.

There are some excellent poems in this number, of which more in a moment; but I was particularly struck by the reviews of the editor's latest work, a verse drama entitled The Boy and the Lion's Head (Citadela, Satu Mare, Romania, 2009). The book has been published bilingually in English and Romanian: Dr Olimpia Iacob is repsonsible for the Romanina translation. Issue 11 of The Seventh Quarry contains an essay entitled 'A Story of The Need for Love' by Professor Alexandru Zotta about Peter's verse drama, and a substantial review by Livia Comşia.

The Boy and the Lion's Head costs £8.99 in the UK, and is by all accounts a most unusual read: Livia Comşia observes that 'no other similar dramas' have been written. The setting is Swansea's Kilvey Hill, a place that has clearly been supremely formative in the poet's artistic development. We are all familiar with Cézanne's relationship with Mont Sainte-Victoire (and here) in Provence. Many of us in this part of Wales are familiar with the poet John Dyer of Aberglasney and his poetic attachment to Grongar Hill, which lies just beyond the boundary of the hidden garden. Kilvey Hill has become a powerful Leitmotif in Peter's creative landscape. He explains his literary intentions in this way,

'I have tried to show the impact language/words make on a small boy's imagination:
in a narrative of impending grief'.

The stage is set; and if we would like to explore the unfolding drama, we would do well to read the lyrical story of The Boy and the Lion's Head for ourselves.

This short blog post can do little more than scratch the surface. It is good to find a tribute obituary by Peter to Aeronwy Thomas, his 2008 travelling companion for a six week tour of the USA. I particularly liked the moving words 'To Aeronwy Thomas' by Lidia Chiarelli. Other poems that caught my eye were 'Ice Maiden' by fellow poet and blogger, Susan Richardson (do take a look at her new blog, Polar Poets, which she shares with Siobhan Logan), Stanley H. Barkan's poem for the late Menke Katz, 'Blackberrying in Spring Glen' and Don Atherton's 'Macchu Pichu', saddled between two camel-like humps (in contrast to the wool-and-camel-hair gown in Susan's poem).

For those who like their poems to have wings, my eye was drawn to the mention of owls in contributions from two American poets, namely in 'Revelation' by Robin Metz and in 'Lies for Icarus's Mother' by Laurie Byro. Hunting birds and famished eagles inhabit the world of 'The Poet' by Carolyn Mary Kleefeld, and my poem, 'Migration Mirage', pays homage to our forked-tailed summer visitors. Professor Sultan Catto's vibrant poem, 'Escape into Time', makes us realise in this cold snap that summer is not too far away, as we catch sight of a butterfly in a faraway city of dreams.

• Details of The Seventh Quarry can be found here (on the right).

Postscript:

The Seventh Quarry
is hosting a ...

WELCOME TO WALES Evening

DYLAN THOMAS IN WALES: VISITING AMERICAN STUDENTS PROJECT
SPRING 2010

To celebrate the arrival in Wales of the first group of American students participating in the Project

An evening of poetry, drama and song

Introduced by the Wales’ co-Director
Peter Thabit Jones

at the Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea

7 p.m., 14th March, 2010
FREE ENTRY

Dylan Thomas in Wales is a 12-week literary seminar offered by Knox College (Illinois, America), in cooperation with the Carl Sandburg Birthplace (America), The Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine (Wales), Cross-Cultural Communications (New York), and in association with the Welsh Assembly Government in New York.

At Knox College, students will study the life and literary works of Dylan Thomas; in Wales, they will study the impact of Wales’s natural history and cultural dynamics on Thomas’s work.

Postcard 11: Looking Glass Land? The lion and the ...

I was fascinated to read in this week's edition of the Times Higher (22-28 January 2009) about the review (Times online) by Rosemary Hill of a new and intriguing book. The book, just published by Granta, is called The Natural History of Unicorns. It is by Chris Lavers, associate professor of environmental and geomorphological sciences at the University of Nottingham. The book apparently covers an overview of what I would call the 'perceived development' of the unicorn from a nursery rhyme character to the 'co-dependent' creature we find in Alice through the Looking Glass.

As I was thinking about unicorns, I happened to click a link through to Seabrooke Leckie's blog ... and there was not quite a unicorn but an amazing and distinctly unicorn-esque creature. Do take a look.

• Interview with Seabrooke Leckie