NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

An independent small press poetry review

NHI independent review
CHRIS KINSEY: KUNG FU LULLABIES
Ragged Raven Press
1 Lodge Farm
Snitterfield
Stratford upon Avon
CV37 0LR
UK
ISBN 0 9542397 7 6
£7

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CHRIS KINSEY: KUNG FU LULLABIES

By way of the opening poem A KUNG FU LULLABY (for Lucy) I could not see it other than a tag for an array of miscellaneous, very enticing poems exuding originality. Apart from this (probably my innate wish that contents should roughly mirror titles for a collection to have power as a collection), I appreciated the calibre of many individual poems. Kinsey uses her skills to make predicates do fantastic deeds on noun-objects: viz from A SMELL OF PETROL:

	I saw petrol turn a boy into a bomb
from ELEGY FOR A BIRD:
	A stand of tulips carouse the dew
from SVALBARD:
	Seals watch the zodiac nosing through ice-floes
from DADDY'S BEEN A-HUNTING
	. . . asleep in a moses basket,
	a gust of wind crowned you with lace knickers.
The effects of these vivacious forays are clarification and emphasis, as the reader's mind turns a mini-turtle.

A lady of many lullabies and careers, Kinsey has worked breaking ponies, as a care assistant, a lecturer, a kung fu instructor and bus escort for Age Concern.

These poems have an impressive history of publications and prizes. Obviously interested in rites of the seasons, her CELEBRATING SOLSTICE AT KILPECK CASTLE widens the tendency to dwell on more parochial subjects:

	On the rampart, huddled against
	the crumbling tower, we light tilted candles.
	Our palms play roaring flame as
	a kestrel, soaring from churchyard yews,
	lifts the horizon —
 
	wet mistletoe winks at the sun.
A most rewarding experience to read.

Reviewer: Eric Ratcliffe.