In the Drift
Convalescent, by the Kennet side, I see two raucous geese glide down to a synchronised landing through scattered waterfowl.…
Captain of Industry
At dawn in silk pyjamas, mole-skin slippers, he will wind up clocks, dozens of cream zeros set in oblong…
End of Girlhood
The first time a tree called me by name, I was thirteen and only spoke a weave of ordinary…
After the Reading
She breathes in the hairspray topnotes of a highland single malt, which needs a glass not a tooth mug.…
An Endless Trace
These days it is to small things that I go – The double thumbprint on page 83 Of Sir…
Finn’s People (Pobull Fhinn, North Uist)
Finn’s people landed and waited for him till the moors darkened and the seas grew thick. After centuries, absentmindedly…
Ferris Bridges
Further down from Ferris Bridges where the blind old gospel baritone dreamed a mirage of eternal mirrors miniature shadows…
Edinburgh Buses
Strolling around it’s not so changed – Glasgow still has its Lasses All cheek bones And button-nose, grouted faces;…
Beyond the Hurt
Beyond the hurt lies the hurt Of a belief that lies shattered; A trust and a judgement exposed To…
Atlas (after Jules Supervielle)
The Earth is so heavy to carry. Each of us has a weight on our back – the dead,…
The Changeling
The baby is crying. Downstairs there is music – Freddie and the Dreamers’ You Belong to Me. Moira straightens…
Forces To Be Reckoned With
Tim Liardet, The Storm House (Carcanet, 2011, £9.95, 66 pp.) Sean O’Brien, November (Picador 2011, £8.99, 84 pp.) In his…
Forces To Be Reckoned With
The Storm House, Tim Liardet, Carcanet, 66pp, £9.95 (paperback) November, Sean O’Brien, Picador, 84pp, £8.99 (paperback) In his essay,…
Between Earth and Heaven
La Wally, Alfredo Catalani, Opera Holland Park, 31 July 2011 It began in 1888 with the thought of snow…
Building History
Ghost Milk: Calling Time on the Grand Project, Iain Sinclair, Hamish Hamilton, 432pp, £20 (hardback) Since being banned from…
Half a Mirror
Drawing in Ash, William Stone, Salt Publishing, 112pp, £9.99 (paperback) The Game of Bear, Peter Bennet, Flambard Press, 72pp,…
Has Houellebecq Lost La Haine?
The Map and the Territory, Michel Houellebecq (translated by Gavin Bowd), William Heinemann, 304pp, £17.99 (hardback) Michel Houellebecq’s personal…
Wild Life: Recent Books from Agenda Editions
Losers Keepers, Andrew McNeillie, £9 (paperback) The Untenanted Room, James Simpson (with woodcuts by Carolyn Trant), unpriced (paperback) A…