NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

An independent small press poetry review

RAINBOW TROUT a collection of poems by The Trout Poets Gothic Garden Press 11 Boxtree Lane Harrow Weald Middlesex HA3 6JU UK ISBN 0 9546446 0 3 Ł3 Web design by This page last updated: 10th December 2007.		RAINBOW TROUT
		The Trout Poets are a sextet of English poets and RAINBOW TROUT is a collection of their poems with each poet being allocated half a dozen pages. The acknowledgements indicate that many of the poems have previously been published elsewhere. They can be found in no less than 14 publications including Purple Patch, Iota and Civil Service Author. Liz Rowlands opens the collection with REMEMBERING ABERFAN, OCTOBER 1966: Tip Seven, built on a stream, turns to slurry. With thunderous rumble, no warning lightning, black lava, three-lane-motorway wide, begins its inexorable slide Were there three-lane-motorways in 1966? Or am I being pedantic here? In the penultimate verse Liz Rowlands speaks of being: asked to bring two shillings for the fund paltry pennies for such overwhelming loss I'm puzzled that she rejected the word florin. It was common to hear the word in those days along with joey, groat, tanner and bob and it had a Florentine connection to the lily. Here's a curious thing: Driving through the valleys the following summer, rows of white crosses against the traumatised hill. We'd never dream of writing The Cotswolds without capitals, now would we? Mike Boland opens his contribution with THE COSSACK OF THE SKY, the tale of Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev alone in space station MIR when the Soviet Union collapsed. At first I was perplexed by the reference to Robinson Crusoe's heart: I am alone, all all alone, more lonely than a man has ever been. Eat your heart out, Crusoe! But then it was explained: I have drunk my water many times, recycled as often as my thoughts. Consider this extract from his poem THE FISHERMAN OF SKYROS by Terry Rickson: When a bare, brown foot lightly brushed my calf he looked down quickly, blushing as prettily as a girl. This poet has the ability to say much with a few well chosen words. His poems are shorter than those of the other contributors. THE SPANISH HORSE from Bill Torrie Douglas is a quixotic delight: I wandered past dead houses, dusty groves, Spain stretched to the horizon. Then I came upon a sad horse in a dry field. which of course belongs to: a different hero. Douglas writes well when he is on form. I appreciated his poem about Vincent van Gogh's final painting. THE LAST CANVAS begins with 3 strong lines: The road is rutted and empty, leads to oblivion, black-angry sky, crows fly above the wheat, fierce brush strokes, thick in brooding colours Pat Brindle provides the Lancashire slant on things but I missed a footnote to her poem THE DANCER (A BRONZE SCULPTURE) which describes the dancer as both a cobra and a concentration camp victim: long fingers curled — a cobra poised to strike. ... Flesh sinks and clings to a framework more akin to wartime concentration than to artistry. Performance poet and Bradford Playhouse actor Howard Frost from the other side of the Pennines had nothing good to say about Lancashire in his opener CONCRETE SEASIDE: It always pissed down at Morecambe. Or Tenerife: If you really must get SO pissed, why not Just stick to neat spirits, or rubbing alcohol. There's no question mark there. It's a statement. The poem winds up: Budding Victor Meldrew, aren't I? I've got to say, I don't much like him either. Victor Meldrew, it should be explained, is a cantankerous old fool in a popular British television comedy series. The problem that Howard Frost has when he tries to bring a Victor Meldrew personality to life in print is that the jokes are visual. On the page they tend to fall flat. To sum up RAINBOW TROUT is a useful sampler of the work of six interesting and diverse poets, five of whom have published solo collections. After that you simply pays your money and takes your choice.
		reviewer: Gwilym Williams