Thursday 7 January 2010

Imagining Seals by Susanna Roxman

This is a lovely collection of poetry full of seals, scenes from Edinburgh, myths and self portraits. it's the birds that are my favourites though, from Waxwings, Dundee:

The soft whistling came first
as if they dared me to emerge,
and there they sat, along branches and ledges,
twenty attentive dusky pink peaches.

I'm still waiting for waxwings to appear in Ednburgh this year, and there won't be many berries for them to eat, as the thrushes have eaten them all. I did see some wild geese flying over the nearby roofs recently and am reminded of this by this extract from Wild Geese, Scania:

Later, above the city, they move back
in great broken contexts, noise
following shortly, such unerring flair
for perfection, how to pierce the setting sun.

The writing is beautiful and sure footed with a good understanding of line break and rhythm.

Imagining Seals by Susanna Roxman, published by Dionysia Press.

4 comments:

Kat Mortensen said...

Really lovely, CGP! I'll read any good poetry on birds and wildlife.

Martin said...

These wonderful samples certainly whet the appetite for more. I'll keep an eye open for this collection.

Caroline Gill said...

Yes, CGP, I love the sound of the book, too - and have bookmarked your post.

AscenderRisesAbove said...

Lovely; enjoyed your new header; we dont get snow here.