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Poems cross boundaries, as well as make nothing happen | 11th July

The mainly short lyric poems in this book came about at various times over the last fifteen years. A few relate to eastern Europe and Russia and the resilience of people there during the so-called transition years, others were inspired by people I came across, and several are more intimately connected to events in my life.

One of my abiding concerns is to do with the rift between humanity and the natural world whereby we now live in times where we are so often constrained to see and experience nature either as wilderness or as decorative tapestry, rather than people relating to and responding through their ordinary living senses and awareness to the world around, beneath and above. Some of the poems reflect this, and for those who want to explore further in poetry or prose, it is worth looking at. (http://www.geopoetics.org.uk)

It is not a new thought that how we care for each other and for the land on which we live are related, but I believe the act of both reading and writing poems is part of keeping mindfulness of planet and people alive in a refusal to accept the commodification of all that exists.

Review on EdinburghGuide.com | 9th July

Can the political be poetical? Once in the day, Penguin Books responded with ‘The Penguin Book of Socialist Verse’, offering poems from all corners of the globe. 'By Leaves Entwined' is a poetry collection that is both personal and often political in its content.

Gordon Peters is a well-travelled poet with political views he gives rein to in a collection that covers numerous topics as well as places.

‘By Leaves Entwined’ travels from Scotland to India via places in between, some real, some more in the poet’s imagination, all of them having some interest or insight to offer.

Snapshots of Smolensk and Moscow give way to thoughts on Dhaka, Lulworth Cove and Indian cuisine as Peters moves on to more substantial pieces that look at the absurdity of bureaucratic policy-speak with a shrewd of jaundiced eye.

‘Capacity Building’ and ‘Ah’m a persistent offender’ are a pair of bright satiric gems shedding their own particular lights on our ‘problem society’, while ‘Life’s Full Circle’ offers its own quirky comment on the ageing process.

Read the rest of the review HERE.