Flammable as paraffin, the unspoken;
petrol poured on thought,
oiled, like the shore after disaster.
This collection combines a conversational tone with passages of linguistic intensity to take on the big subjects: light, love, life. Domestic settings and the characters that populate them are particularly satisfying. I also enjoy the way the poems dabble or flirt with form and technique – couplets, half rhyme, the sonnet – before ultimately spinning on their heel and waltzing off in another direction. The poems asked me to accompany them and I went willingly.
– Simon Armitage
Petrol, Cyan, Electric, was a Winner in the Poetry Business Book and Pamphlet Competition 2012/13 and was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award.
Published by Smith Doorstop, available from the Poetry Business.
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