By Mike Barlow
\nISBN 978-0-9935103-6-6
\nPrice \u00a35<\/p>\n
SOLD OUT<\/strong>, sorry<\/p>\n These poems are concerned with the way our world can be other than it seems, where the certainties of belonging, borders, history and faith can shift, become illusory, and launch us into unsettling waters.<\/p>\n “Here we find stories, steeped in mesmeric imagery, of voyages and of islands\u2026This is imaginative work. Barlow\u2019s poems continue, throughout the collection, to be arresting, evocative, tantalising.” Peter Kennedy, londongrip<\/p>\n “The collection zings with the splash of the sea, with voices borrowed and adopted, and landscapes rich with the vocabulary Barlow bestows upon them. Reading the titles alone feels transformative.”<\/p>\n “…like the master balloonist, he knows exactly when to add fire, when to discard ballast, and how to bring us safely back to land, often miles from where we started.” \u00a0 Penny Boxall, Sabotage.<\/p>\n You’ll step ashore, breathe the island’s brokered air, Ushered by gulls and oystercatchers, a handshake And still we’re armed to the teeth with grievance, Let us grow thin on our differences, discover <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Mike Barlow ISBN 978-0-9935103-6-6 Price \u00a35 SOLD OUT, sorry These poems are concerned with the way our world can be other than it seems, where the certainties of belonging, borders, history and faith can shift, become illusory, and launch us into unsettling waters. “Here we find stories, steeped in mesmeric imagery, of voyages and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1050","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P5v6l4-gW","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wayleavepress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wayleavepress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wayleavepress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wayleavepress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wayleavepress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wayleavepress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1050\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wayleavepress.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe Isle of Discussion<\/h4>\n
\nsubverted history, quiet resolutions, easements.
\nAnd I’ll respond as if you were my own, you
\nwith your grudges, your alien ways, me
\nresentful, old heart choked with judgement.<\/p>\n
\nmarks a listening here.We’ll make our way
\nthrough old oaks to the settlement, its trace
\nof ditch and wall a narrative of drawn blood,
\ncovetings, skirmishes \u2013 millennia’s worth.<\/p>\n
\nready as ever to take offence at the first
\ncrossed line, thoughtless glance. So let us stay
\nas long as it takes, follow the water’s edge
\nuntil we end up where we started, changed.<\/p>\n
\nthe knack of wearing one another’s skin.
\nLet the clamour of the mainland swallow itself
\nin the wind. When dusk arrives we’ll ponder
\nthe lights going on back there, where no one listens.<\/p>\n