Wednesday 4 August 2021

Driftwood by Starlight by Caroline Gill

This is the first full collection of poetry by Caroline Gill, who blogs at Wild and Wonderful and also has a blog dedicated to her poetry. This collection follows on from numerous publications in journals and magazines and in the pamphlet The Holy Place (with John Dotson, which I reviewed here). 

Caroline Gill is a very skilled writer of formal verse, with a great sense of rhythm and rhyme. She is also a meticulous observer of nature. Both these aspects of her poetry are clearly demonstrated in Migrant Hawker (the migrant hawker is a species of dragonfly):

You skim through my hair on this dragonfly day,
zig-zagging along as you harvest my thoughts
to bind them in bands on your rainbow today. 

Meanwhile in Puffin's Assembly, she dwells on the crisis facing many of our seabirds:

...the ocean wails beneath our wings.
I sense its brooding grief.
In time we shall be hardly more
...than hearsay about 'ancient things'

Some poems are more light-hearted, Isabella Tiger Moth Greets the Woolly Bear Caterpillar is an amusing short poem about insect metamorphosisi while in Monte Testaccio, Mound of Potsherds, a cat surveys monuments of the ancient world. 

This short collection is a treat for people who enjoy nature and appreciate well crafted formal verse.

Driftwood by Starlight by Caroline Gill published by Seventh Quarry Press (2021)

4 comments:

Jeff said...

this sounds like a delightful book.

https://fromarockyhillside.com

Crafty Green Poet said...

Hi Jeff, it is and Caroline's blogs are an interesting read too.

eileeninmd said...

Congrats on Driftwood collection of poems.
Sounds delightful for the nature lover.
Take care, enjoy your day!

Caroline Gill said...

Special thanks to Crafty Green Poet. Thank you, too, to Jeff and Eileen for your comments about my collection.