NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

An independent small press poetry review

PIETY AND PLUM PORRIDGE edited by Jeanne Macdonald Blinking Eye Publishing PO Box 549 North Shields Tyne & Wear NE30 2WT UK ISBN 0 9549036 3 3 Ł5.99 email Blinking Eye Publishing visit the website of Blinking Eye Publishing Web design by This page last updated: 10th December 2007.		PIETY AND PLUM PORRIDGE
		PIETY AND PLUM PORRIDGE is the second anthology of poetry by writers over 50 published by Blinking Eye Press. I have to admit the title put me off somewhat and even finding that its a line from one of the prize winning poems still doesn't endear me to it. However once I opened the book, any doubts I had evaporated. There is a lot of excellent poetry here. There are, unsurprisingly several poems about growing older, such as Pat Borthwick's BEECH HOUSE about the narrator's uncle, the details of his life and his philosophy of life, from which these lines: Strange how the snow is so accurate. Year by year, in a sort of symmetry, it finds and fills his windows, only his, whichever street he's living in. while Berta Freistadt mediates on the ageing process and the fact of physical activity becoming more difficult in IMITATION OF WALKING heel down knee up who cut the strings step plie, step plie I used to be a dancer. The Second World War period also features in several of the poems. Derek Collins' beautiful JUNE 1944 encapsulates the experiences of the time for schoolchildren in the UK — saving paper in the classroom and swapping cigarette cards in the tram, while in continental Europe: 'Arbeit macht frei' Train doors slide open, suitcases, bundles thrown out, Boys gulp air, are ordered to the left. A girl follows, tries not to dirty her gold shoes. There are numerous poems about human relationships, from BOSOM FRIENDS Margaret Eddershaw's wonderful tale of female bonding in a dark clothes shop in Saigon to NEIGHBOUR Claire Crossman's story about her artistic neighbour: [we] sometimes talk together. When she's not absent following the light along the coast, or bashing out clay, refusing to compromise concerning the details of sunshine and shadow. Bernard Landreth maintains vivid memories of a youthful sighting of a rare bird in BLACK REDSTART; Mary Hodgson observes a kestrel dive and sees it as modern art in ART NOUVEAU: single black penstroke etched on the air, gone in an instant, flash of organic line and Beryl Fenton sees art in the detritus of everyday city life in URBAN STREET MODERN ART. The only really experimental poem in the anthology is James Turner's WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE, which ends with the wonderfully inspiring: We'd rather dance roofless the seam and sod of this sun-struck planet and for no fee. But my favourite poems are the two by Michael Swan. A BLACKBIRD HOPPING is a meditative poem about a blackbird hopping and more generally about observation and how nature can distract us, in this case the mundanity of the doctor's surgery and the worries about a possible illness or unpleasant treatment. The blackbird hops: each hop separate, each hop a thing in itself, each hop a whole story, and SOMEWHERE ON A SMALL YACHT, the same poet's take on parallel realities, which would be entirely spoilt by quiting just a part of it, so you'll need to read the book, which I would recommend doing anyway!
		reviewer: Juliet Wilson.