Our Christmas walk on Monday was reduced by the weather to a Christmas pub meal but there was compensation to be had when Jeff finally remembered to bring me a copy of his fine booklet and then consented to add himself to my signed poetry books collection.
It's a luxury, limited edition on hand-made paper and consists of only five poems but one comes away from it with a feeling that it must have been a more substantial set. The poems are meticulously made and, without wasted words or extraneous padding, provide a full and rich impression that many don't achieve in a full length book.
They are acutely observed poems, thematically concentrating on minor detail, quiet moments and meditating on small things made significant by his care and attention. Slightly more 'written' than I might do but in places very similar in temper, they are very much 'considered utterances', if that is the phrase I half remember from Donald Davie's critical writing. As isn't always the case, it might be the title poem that is most memorable with its fine description of woodlice discovered on Moving the Stones,
Creatures of an erratic
and unhappy god,
the god of ghosts and expulsions,
or, in Chorley Cemetery,
A broken angel someone's propped
against a headstone leans like a thrush
waiting for its worm, stone listening to mud.
I'd like to think that perhaps once or twice a review or feature I've put here has encouraged someone to read or buy a book or CD. I'm afraid that won't be possible on this occasion because this very slim volume is gloriously art for art's sake and not commercially available although you might find earlier books by Jeff available on second-hand websites. For those who prefer their poems calm and sensibly thought out, they would be worth a look.