This issue contains a wide variety of contributions from over sixty poets from Scotland(which also provides the lichen encrusted wheel arch cover image from Callander) to Germany, from Wales to Spain. Naturally the emphasis are on Cornish poems and it is the landscape of Kernow which provides the inspiration for many of these verses in dialect and Kenewek with a translation and interpretation section carefully chosen by Grand Bard, Mick Paynter. It is good to see the enthusiasm for good poetry in the Duchy from such various sources as French, Scots Gaelic and even the Romany language of Gurbet. This is a collection which is not afraid to approach the edge, like Sam Harcombe, who at Warren Cliff approached, ignoring stakes and danger signals:-
Hoping to catch sight of seal,
I wanted to look closer at the inlet far below, but
riddled with rabbit holes and
cracks it was obviously dangerous.
I went a few steps past the stakes
And still saw not enough
Bernard Jackson prefers the sylvan safety of the Sunlit Leaves as the sun sinks and he wanders entranced by the magic of a slow watered stream:-
Eternal is the flame that ne’er consumes,
Yet blazons leaves, nor shall one instant fade.
From woodland reign that readily assumes
This seasoned garb, immortally arrayed.
In traceries where sunlight shines between,
God’s glory is a miracle of green.
Besides such nature poems form Perranuthnoe to Predannack, there are some moving poems inspired by the cheerful and encouraging words from the nursing staff on Geevor Ward which as Donald Rawe puts it “Restore humanity to the clinical desolation”. There are sad, human reflections on Casualty and Geriatric Wards. There are too the lifting memories of repairing with his father My Pink Bicycle by Graham Rippon:-
“Paint it any colour you like”
But the only colour we had was Pink
This little collection is a gem and a tribute to the current interest in poetry in our Duchy.
penwithlit 