Jan Hedger's new collection, a journey through poetry, emphasises the myriad of emotion that life brings: past and present, from love, loss, to emotion in war, in dreams and hope. The sea, always an inspiration to Jan, features in many of the poems, reflecting in its moods and our emotions.
'On Calico Wings' is a gentle undulating journey through Jan's poetry; from the charming innocence of 'Seashell' through the deep sadness of 'Innocent Grief' and on to the haunting 'Absolution', with her descriptive prose, mixture of styles and clever, often subtle, word play she invokes tears of grief and joy before the journey's end yet leaves the reader hungry for more.
BJ Lewis
The book is divided into several sections, the first being 'Calico', which is my favourite poem of all in this section. 'Calico' is an amazing poem and everything is perfect. Close your eyes and you have feel the waves moving and is a wonderfully scripted journey of love with repetition of the name Calico like the waves webbing and then flowing – quite brilliant. You can feel the tide of Calico's life repeated in the ebb and flow of her name.
Of course, no Jan Hedger book would be complete without some of the touching poems of forces poetry, a site for the armed forces to publish their work. In this section 'Shot at Dawn' stands out. If there is one poem I would urge someone to read from this section a least once, preferably more, it is 'Too Young'. This poem actually made me cry, it is so poignant: how many boys were put in such a position? It speaks volumes to and I hope it does to you.
With this book, Jan has reached the top in the art of writing poetry: 'On Calico Wings' is not old-fashioned, but has more humanity and emotion in it than I have ever felt. It is a triumph: a book to make you laugh, cry, feel sad and elated, happy, but most of all I hope it makes people think.
Bobbie Cohelo
Excerpt
Wedding Dress Shopping' is another masterful poem and the two lines at the end sum up everything very well:
"Eyes meet in a moment of clarity,
This is the one."
Calico
Alone on the bench
she sat watching
Calico, on a
shimmering sea
drifting, drifting
sailing the breeze
lazily billowing
catching the air
harnessing
its power
quite naturally
Empty Teacups,
The knock came at night
Crashing into the midnight stillness...
It begins it. I have been here before, as I could tell.
For finding: that myself I have reborn
But not seen, is forever to persist
To gather around the seasons of space with the everlastingness of event
With the layered energy as it is made of things.
Into the logical fiber of the tribute: a thought arises
And stays on course, slowly progressing, not done.
By fear: the fear that’s been since forever,
In the same space the inseparable normal good
Being passed through mankind
Came accessible to me: I fade into remoteness
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