poems describing moments in twenty first century prison camps and and life after
'...This powerful book is well worth the money not only for its unassuming psychological insights but for the exquisite sensual images that pervade, all of which are startlingly English. Don't be deterred by the subject matter, this is not a squeamish book; it is a book that explores our values of life and it is a book about endurance and beauty. About 60 pages long, its unshrinking, forthright style make it quite quick to read (I didn't want to put it down) but the images therein linger long after the turning of each page. Pieces should not be left sitting on any publisher's shelf; it should be dog-eared and passed on.' Carol Thistlethwaite: Tregolwyn Book Reviews
Excerpt
A slow drizzle collects on latitudes of wire.
Drops congregate, meet and merge, run along
to the lowest point, and drip; shattering on lower
strands and making miniature cascades. Singular
drops snail backwards down the vertical.
Believing all water here, because it is here,
to be undrinkable, dehydration has created a
vitamin B deficiency, adding to his delusional
state. The already lack of vitamin C
means that his skin has spots and lesions,
his gums are swollen and his teeth loose.
Beyond the rhomboids, ellipses and rectangles of the fence
are waist-sawn stumps and lime-spattered graves. Beyond these
sunken and hummocked oblongs is a line of sparkling trees
- a few birch beckoning lightness; but mostly the inner dark
of conifer. Beyond the trees' wispy tips a mountain, its peak
wearing a cyclist's helmet of cloud. From the diamond-mesh
gate, the road curves into the green-black trees.
Professional Reviews
Jeremy Hilton: Fire #19
‘...one of the best books to have appeared in [the] UK so far this century...’
Donna Biffar: Orbis #121
‘...a captivating exploration of love, grief, and especially hope in a prisoner of war camp... But Pieces is also about violence, and therein lies something fascinating and even beautiful ... The lines are musical, lulling ... creates an enchanted, awful place where people are dying, where we don’t want them to stop dying, so we can keep reading...
The Black Mountain Review #6
‘...The descriptive density and personal revelation of the experience give these ‘pieces’ poetic weight .... Smith has a winning style...
WHISPERS OF THE HEART is artist and author J. Allen Wilson's second book of poetry.It can be autographed and shipped within 48 hours of order. NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
