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thechemicaldetective's review
5.0
I’m not a good reader of poetry.
Although I always look forward to the biannual anthologies of Stairwell Books, it is as much for the short stories as for the poems. In the latest edition, "Dream Catcher 38", Wendy Pratt quotes Robert Frost “A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong…” and she goes on to say that a good poem should give you a jolt “down a step that isn’t there.”
Which helped explain why I so treasure this anthology by Gerda Stevenson. The musical Scottish cadence is warmly familiar but look out for power cables concealed among the words.
Each of her short poems tells a complete story, from sharply defined narratives of loss “midwife to words that will cut the cord” (How to Tell Him) “nothing without her grace” (The Red Cardigan) to howls against injustice “their ears deaf to truth, though still intact” (Asylum Seeker).
A book of poems to buy and read.
And read again.
Although I always look forward to the biannual anthologies of Stairwell Books, it is as much for the short stories as for the poems. In the latest edition, "Dream Catcher 38", Wendy Pratt quotes Robert Frost “A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong…” and she goes on to say that a good poem should give you a jolt “down a step that isn’t there.”
Which helped explain why I so treasure this anthology by Gerda Stevenson. The musical Scottish cadence is warmly familiar but look out for power cables concealed among the words.
Each of her short poems tells a complete story, from sharply defined narratives of loss “midwife to words that will cut the cord” (How to Tell Him) “nothing without her grace” (The Red Cardigan) to howls against injustice “their ears deaf to truth, though still intact” (Asylum Seeker).
A book of poems to buy and read.
And read again.
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