One of those lovely evenings in the poetry library where you can spy among the audience many friends of the poet who have arrived to listen.
Gerry Loose cast his spell. Like the recent
Zaffar Kunial and
John Glenday reading in the same venue, attentive poets have a magical effect on any poet's silences. Not to mention that the accompanying tales are well-received and often received with some good-humoured heckling.
This was a nuanced reading of a book with a strong message.
now water underthin scabs ice crustsfox & I look for retreatneither ableto walk on waterany longerThe
Fault line of the title takes in change, geology and transformation and the nuclear installations that perch on the landscape in Faslane. The poems are beautifully drawn; their contained precise presence invokes a seasonal cycle of growth, the Highland fault line itself, man's drawing of lines and boundaries, and nature's power to traverse and overcome these lines.
The stanza quoted above continues:
fox walksthrough woodcrows sit on ice floating rocks.I look forward to reading and rereading. Learning the rocks and stones and water.
And that is to say nothing about the pleasure of the cover and the handling of the cover - which I recommend that you go into any bookshop and do!
Vagabond Voices have done a great job.
You can find more about the book and where to buy it here
http://www.vagabondvoices.co.uk/authors/gerry-loose/PS failed to take the photo I had promised myself of the reading as my attention was taken by blethering to old friends, so I have made free with this one which is from Gerry's website here
http://www.gerryloose.com/index.html