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Wednesday, 21 October 2009

Chasing the Hoopoe by John Weston

This is the first collection from John Weston, a career diplomat with interests in education, the arts and the voluntary sector. He is a writer who can weave observations of the natural world naturally into a narrative:

I knew I was losing you that day at Brooks Camp
where we walked to see the salmon leap
into the bears' open mouths.

(from To Alaska and Back)

As the school bus took the cornerwind lifted
the birch tree branches, shifting the light's angle.

(from The Shillinged Birches).

though my favourite poem is the starkly simple Image, which begins:

That dwarf lilac bush
is bouncing with
long-
........tailed tits

...doing a jig for

the first day of spring

This collection covers a lot of topics including family, allotment gardens, wartime and a series of translations from Mao Tse-tung.

Chasing the Hoopoe by John Weston, published by Peterloo Poets, 2005

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed the verses you've included in this post.

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  2. Sweetly effortless, seemingly that is. Thanks.

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  3. Thanks for sharing and visiting. Have a great week!

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  4. I like these. So seemingly simple yet what clear images they give.

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  5. These are lovely verses. I especially like the second and third ones. Thanks for sharing these!

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  6. These are very nice indeed.

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