Basic Nest Architecture by Polly Atkin

 

This is a lovely thin book, that I have to admit, when I first picked it up from the free book library on a nearby street, I thought was going to be a guide to bird nest design! Instead it's a book of poetry with a strong sense of connection to the natural world and a concern with global climate chaos.

In Buzz Pollination, the poet meditates on a bee that comes close to her

The shadows slunk longer. I heard her mumble 
to the apples. I waited, longer for her, wanting
her powder puff touch, her yellow, her hunger. 

While Jack Daw is an evocative character study of the small corvid the jackdaw

Acrobat / soothsayer. Splintered midnight in flight. 

Birds commonly appear in these poems as do foxes, the moon and rabbits.

After a pause, sure you are watched,
you stretch out into a living leap. 

from Rabbit in Morning.


Not all poems connect with the natural world, there are also poems about family, the sense of belonging and the experience of migraine headaches. 

These are beautifully written poems that are well worth re-reading.


Basic Nest Architecture by Polly Atkin published (2017) by Seren

A book review for 30 Days Wild.