A review by thebookboy
Tongues of Fire by Seán Hewitt

4.0

Poetry is such a deeply personal form that I do sometimes find it difficult to rate. However, Hewitt's small collection of poems were exactly the sort of salve I needed in 2020.

Beautifully evocative, Hewitt blends the beauty of nature with personal experience in a pensive, almost mischievous manner, resulting in poems that, although simple, are wonderfully powerful and linger beautifully after reading.

I particularly liked the poem "Dryad" - one of the longer entries in the anthology and one that I think really nicely captures the celebration of nature contrasted against the grounded experiences and interesting sexual undertones that the author has weaved through.

I did find a few of the poems a bit less intoxicating than the others, and there are a few entries to this tiny anthology that I didn't personally resonate with - something which in such a small collection is a shame as they detracted from the overall experience.

Still, a beautiful selection filled with wind strewn heaths and woodlice-dripping plants, the language of trees and the subtle touch of human experience against nature. Very beautiful indeed.

4 stars.