Orbis 193

Orbis 193, Autumn 2020

£5 (Overseas: £11/€14/$16); Subs: £18/4 pa (Overseas: £40/€50/$60)

Front cover artwork: ”Haiku‘ by Albena Vatcheva
back cover, detail from image: https://albena-vatcheva.pixels.com/

‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’, or perhaps melancholy, for some.
Although for many, cosiness is a warm puppy as they say… So what have we here
to help keep you cheerful? Well, appropriately, you can visit Miyajima, with Sally,
and Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana, or advise Antony Johae how to avoid
a Lebanese Lapse whilst heeding Kevin Higgins: The Shipping Forecast.
And did you start thinking ‘Simon’? when Daniel Boland tells you Saturn Says?
Or were you wondering about Barbara Crooker’s
Poem lightly threaded with clouds, not to mention Jounce,
from Pamela Gormally? Ah well, with Annie Klier Newcomer
and Jamie Lynn Heller speculating about Corona,
maybe no getting away from it all –
except for a little while, engrossed in this issue of Orbis

Poetry Sequence
Stephen Yeo: Nine Months Before Tiananmen
From a China diary, September-October 1988

Poems from Josh Brunetti (Bird Of Ill Repute); Laura Chalar
(A Return Across The Bridges);
Frank Dullaghan (This is not Intended to be a Narrative);
Kevin Higgins (The Shipping Forecast);
Karla Van Vliet (Lexicon of Truth)

Prose from Don Ammons (Lucifer in England);
Karen Petersen (The Umbrella Man);
Joy Wassell Timms (Revolution)

Translation: Bibhu Padhi, from Oriya: Ipsita Sarangi, The Unreachable Lord

Past Master: Jack Houston on Keith Castellain Douglas

Reviews by Maria Isakova Bennett, Philip Dunkerley, David Harmer,
Jenny Hockey, D. A. Prince, Theresa Sowerby and Lynne Taylor

Orbis 193 contributors also include
Anne Banks; Sarah Barr; Sheena Bradley; Terence Brick; Anne-Marie Brumm;
Vuyelwa Carlin; Caroline Carver; Laura Ciraolo; Richard Halperin;
Tariq Hassan; Michael Henry; Graham High; David Holliday; Kuli Kohli;
Dorrie Johnson; John McOwat; Tom Moody; Michael Spinks; Georgina Titmus

Orbis 192, Summer 2020

£5 (Overseas: £11/€14/$16); Subs: £18/4 pa (Overseas: £40/€50/$60)

Front cover artwork: ‘‘The Pink Balloon II‘ by Steve Mitchell
back cover, detail from image: https://www.stephenmitchellart.com/

Let your troubles just float away; here’s a wondrous world
in which to immerse yourself. After all, it’s Summertime, so are you ready
to smell the roses,  or Jimmy Rodda’s Purple Lilac?
Although you need to be careful,  when Marie-Pascale Hardy tells you
that The floor is lava, and if perplexed just how Dead fish can’t be bored, l
et Maureen Jivani explain, while Keith Moul can reveal all about
the Drama Hidden in Clouds.  And yes, as Andrew Oram reminds us, The day is short
but for those of you putting your enforced leisure to good use,
you probably already know about Sidhe Gaoithe. along with Attracta Fahy.
But, Almost Blue, like Patricia Carragon? No need when there’s plenty
to keep you occupied, entertained and inspired, here,
in the latest issue of Orbis

Featured Poet,

David Thompson:  Arachnophobia; Unruly sun; On the sofa;
One morning commute; Tethered estate

Poems from Terence Culleton, Fudge Shop; Ged Groves, Passe-partout;
Marie-Pascale Hardy,The floor Is lava; Ava Patel, Stratocumulus;
Cynthia A. Ventresca, The Solace of Curtains Closed

Prose from Meg Barton, Next door;
Lydia Fulleylove, THE DOCK AND THE DESK
A PROSE SCULPTURE; Steve May, Flight of fancy

Translation Ranald Barnicot: Horace : Odes 1.37 Nunc est bibendum

Past Master Phil Knight on Vladimir Mayakovsky

Reviews by David Harmer, Jenny Hockey, Clairr O’Connor,
D. A. Prince, Andrew Taylor and Noel Williams

Orbis 192 contributors also include

Liz Birchall; Charlie Brice; Michael Casey; Jim Conwell; Kathy Cullen;
Christine Curtis; Michael Farry; Simon Fletcher; Daniel Hinds;
Greg Huteson; juli Jana; Alex Josephy; Patricia Leighton;
Clifford Liles; Pauline May; Karla Linn Merrifield; Cedric Pickin; Dorothy Pope;
Ewan Smith; Edwin Stockdale; John Whitehouse; Jay Whittaker; Martin Zarrop

Orbis 191 contributors also include

Aidan Baker;Maggie Butt; Claudia Court;Natalie Crick; Bill Dodd;
Isabel Greenslade; Derek Healy; Doreen Hinchliffe; George Hopewell;
Jack Houston; Richard Hughes; Gloria Keeley; Simon Leonard;
Rozanne McCoy; Simon Perchik; Peter Sutton; Anne Symon

Readers’ Award 191

A slightly different, shorter version appears in the magazine.

And if you’re curious about all the writing which has inspired these comments,
you only have to ask… and cough up for a copy of #191: £5

 

I enjoyed your editorial, and here are my nominations

1. Claudia Court for Lap of Honour –
I enjoyed the way the situation was revealed piece by piece.

2. Maggie Butt for Even Now – Musical, beautiful and urgent.

3. Jack Houston for No! – I liked the use of form
to mirror the growing, shifting, understanding of what is happening.

4. Derek Healy for Remission –
An interesting thought, cleverly unpacked (Ralph Mold)

I enjoyed the current issue of Orbis –
thank you again for including two of my poems.
The four I enjoyed the most:-

Claudia Court’s Lap of Honour and its final line
‘The engines roar, purring his dirge.’

Finola Scott’s Spoils and Division
for the picture of divorce utilising an historical demarcation.

Lorna Sherry’s The Nightjar,
and the phrase ‘the lithe length of you’

Doreen Hinchliffe’s The Return, particularly the clever choice
of the six line end words to make the sestina work (Dave Martin)

 

1. At Dinner, Nathalie Crick. Great use of what isn’t said.

2. Splendid, Beth Booth. Wonderfully violent.

3. Lap of Honour, Claudia Court. Cool use of tension (Jack Houston)

I especially enjoyed You’re Never More Than Six Feet from An Elvis Impersonator
I love the treatment of the authentic and disguise, the combination of
‘brylcreem / and fakery’. The use of words like antimacassars transport
the reader to a particularly grimy past which contrasts the the supposed glamour
of LA and stardom with crisps, evoking a world where even the Pied Piper
isn’t the real thing, hinting at the danger of fakery being acceptable
(Simon Leonard)

 

A lot to delve into here and of the close runners-up, certainly also
worth applause: Beth Booth’s Splendid, Peter Sutton’s Metamorphosis
(I wish I’d come up with that last line) and Anne Symons’ Corsetiere
with an equally wonderful last line.
Then, David Greenslade, haltered As a Horse, Natalie Crick’s well-paced 30 Days,
Jack Houston’s elegant Elegy for Myself, Lorna Sherry’s beautiful Nightjar,
and Simon Perchik’s dense Asterisk.
But my choices for the top three have to be shared between
Gaynor Clements (Bole Hill); Maggie Butt (Silence); with top note
to Penny Sharman for All those myths in the dark forest (Michael Spinks)

 

Lorna Sherry, ‘The dangers of spring’

David Greenslade, ‘Calf’

Bill Donald, ‘Small bird’

Richard Hughes, ‘Old song’

All of which had me scanning them closely for details,
like one of those ‘Where’s Wally?’ crowdscapes:
occurrences of the dog; the dotted synecdoches;t
he phoneme /t/; clues to which town was being remembered for its changes
(Aidan Baker)

 

Claudia Court, Lap of Honour, great pace and use of images of movement

Gaynor Clements, Bole Hill; last two lines are devastating –

a good thing in a poem

Natalie Crick, At Dinner; restrained, powerful, and a life in one moment

Bill Dodd, small bird; travels from the particular to the numinous

and back again – tt tt is following me as I type (Isabel Greenslade)

 

Orbis 191 is full of good writing but I’d like to vote for Even Now by Maggie Butt,
beautifully balanced, and enhanced by the lack of punctuation (Lorna Sherry)

Difficult to single out anything but my love is for short poems which takes me
straight into someone’s emotional state, cancelling out everything else
for the moment of reading. Therefore my choices are:

1. Jointly: Witness by Anne Rath and The Nightjar by Lorna Sherry.
I love the sensuality contrasting so vividly with the sense of loss and time passing.

3.Lap of Honour by Claudia Court. The visual strength brilliantly understates
yet highlights the emotion.

4.Mock Sonnet 1X by Sam Smith.

I love that question: who are the insane amongst us (Christine Curtis)

 

I really enjoyed 191, and not easy, making my final choice:

Sam Smith (Mock Sonnet IX)

Gaynor Clements (Bole Hill II)

Claudia Court (Lap of Honour)

David Healy (Remission) (Wendy Everett )

 

What a difficult job selecting a handful of poems from all the good stuff
in an issue of Orbis, but worth doing because it makes you think more
about what you are reading, especially the ones to which you keep.
Often, the real qualities hit me only at the 3rd or 4th reading.

Maggie Butt – Silence

Lovely use of sound. It takes us on a journey into the silence,
from ordinary life into the place and finally into the body itself.

Jack Houston – Elegy for Myself

A little poem that says a lot very elegantly about ourselves and nature.

Claudia Court – Lap of Honour

I loved the image of the dad ‘swerving full throttle on the wind’.
A difficult situation to write about without it

becoming inadvertently comic

but this is very handled very beautifully (David Lukens)

 

Thank you for another great issue of Orbis.
My nominations for the Readers’ Award for issue 191,

in order of appearance:

Bole Hill by Gaynor Clements

Passenger by Beth Booth

All those myths in the dark forest by Penny Sharman

Mr Starling by Isabel Greenslade (Ann Gibson)

 

Thank you for keeping Orbis going in print form in difficult times

I found it extremely difficult to choose because there were so many
excellent poems taking unusual and illuminating viewpoints, ranking them
seemed invidious. I really enjoyed this issue. I thought all Featured Poet
Gaynor Clements’ poems were excellent but will nominate as my first choice
Pater Unfamilias with its spare but wonderfully suggestive use of imagery
and the emotional tension running through to the very last, powerfully emotive line

Second choice is Beth Booth’s Passenger which struck a chord with me,
a fearful traveller in any car. I liked the way its structure mimicked
the headlong speed and lurches, its effortless fluency and conversational tone,
and the occasional brilliant turn of phrase – ‘funerary recklessness';
cynicism ‘that grows like mould’.

Third choice is Mike Barlow’s The Voice Takes a Break, a clever riff
on the common experience of losing one’s voice, with a charged last line –
and perfectly structured .

Fourth choice Finola Scott’s Spoils and Division, with its unexpected
and brilliantly original use of the surveyors, whose Mason-Dixon line
settled territorial disputes in the US, to point up a similar situation
in a failing marriage, succinctly evoked (A C Clarke)

 

Great issue and I really enjoyed Gaynor’s poems, especially Badger.

Beth Booth, for the wonderfully rich Splendid and Passenger.
They both read as though they had spilled out, but
beautifully controlled and perfectly pitched all the way through.

Jack Houston, for his stunningly effective pantoum No!

Maggie Butt, for a haunting description of Silence (Cat Campbell)

 

As always, it’s impossible really, to rank the many engaging poems
that tugged at me but here are four, and one extra:

1. Mike Barlow, The voice takes a break. Some of the images here seem
particularly resonant now: the lost voice and ‘dear old world of endearments';
the cancelled trains. This travels such a long way, with subtle modulations.
Then it rises into a meditation on that ‘perfect space/between the notes’
and a sense of something just beyond understanding. A fine piece.

2. Claudia Court’s ‘Lap of Honour.’ I love the way she springs her surprise,
right at the centre, and the beautifully consistent motor racing imagery.
Original and moving, in an unassuming way, as the best poetry always is.

3. Maggie Butt’s ’Silence’; so full of all the sounds of such a ‘silence’,
and with the rhythmic sense of the lake underlying the whole thing.

4. Doreen Hinchcliffe’s ’The Return’. A subject well suited to sestina:
the circling thoughts and memories evoked by a significant place.
There are returns within returns here, and I like the way the poet s
skilfully inserts closely observed details into the hypnotic cycle of repetitions,
then leaves the place as ‘mysterious’ as ever.
5. I want to mention too the lovely, light, birdlike footsteps
taken in Bill Dodd’s ’small bird.’ (Alex Josephy)

1. Anne Symons. Corsetière.

I so admired this. Each verse, though describing some insignificant particular,
opens a window to a much greater reality. The reader’s imagination
immediately sits up, engaged and put to work. Marvellous.

2. Lorna Sherry. The Dangers Of Spring. I was taken by the clarity of the writing.
It describes so precisely the two people involved and their situation.
And the wonderful final two sentences; turning the key which sets everything into motion.

3. Sam Smith. Mock Sonnet IX. The argument tugged at me,
this is so desperately a time ‘that truth will have to be spoken’.

4. Neelim Dundas. The House Of the Big Brown Eyes.
This one is mesmerizising and draws you right in. The narrator is that irresistible character;
the pompous man of position who has no conception of how he reveals
his essential weakness with every word (Ewan Smith)

 

1 landlady mua by Anuja Ghimire; very moving in its few short lines.

2 Bole Hill 11 by Gaynor Clements. Loved the knowledge
of plants and the natural world in all her poems. Found them very mysterious too.

3 Key Notes by Neil Beardmore (Hilarious and real) and small bird by Bill Dodd.

4 Silence by Maggie Butt (Frances Sackett)

 

Unusual for me to choose 4 joint winners but such good writing.

Joint 1st Claudia Court Lap of Honour. So visual. I like ‘swarming circuit’.
It makes you think of movement and sound. ‘Scatter his years’
is a good description, easy to relate to this account of scattering the ashes.
The furtive nature is told well, with a particularly good last stanza

Joint 1st Gloria Keeley The Ninth Life. Brilliant first 2 lines!
I like the comparison of lemmings and the elephants in the line
about a circus. The connections are really interesting,
and I kept going back to read this one. Pure poetry!

Joint 2nd Maggie Butt Silence. I like the listing of the permitted sounds
in a convent. ‘The lapping of your life’ is a fantastic ending. I also enjoyed ‘Even Now.

Joint 2nd Neil Beardmore Key Notes The dialogue is so effective.
As I was/am a daydreamer, I related to this, and I loved the realistic snapshot
of school life. The boy’s musing on his grandmother and music touching.

Joint 3rd Finola Scott Spoils and Divisions. An interesting take on a marital split.
I like the allusion to Mason and Dixon. It was deft to gently refer to
the important parenting acts that are often not valued.

Joint 3rd Anne Symons Corsetiere

A vivid picture of a woman’s job. It cleverly highlighted
her sales technique and her customers.

Joint 4th Isabel Greenslade Mr. Starling

Fantastic three lines opened this poem. Sad, reflective poem.
Vivid details. I like the way children’s behaviour is portrayed.

Joint 4th Mike Barlow The voice takes a break

Very unusual subject. I love the simile in the 1st stanza.
I like ‘shy squeeze of air’   (Gene Groves)

I enjoyed Sam Smith’s two pieces, Mock Sonnet IX
and A Simple Act, for their directness and clarity.
A touch of humour saved them from excessive didacticism.
I admired very much the poise, restraint and originality of
Mick Barlow’s The voice takes a break. There’s a poet with an ear
for rhythm, who listens to what he writes!
I enjoyed too the lively, playful poems by Penny Sharman
(Zip) and Peter Sutton (Mr Bounce).
I’ll mention finally Neelim Dundass’ short story,
The House Of The Big Brown Eyes, for its slice of life from another world (David Ball)

Here are my favourite poems from your excellent 191 edition.

First – Silence by Maggie Butt. I love this poem, so evocative
of a place I know well. I have always wondered about these
cloistered nuns, isolated in paradise. This is a poem I wish I had written.

Second – Bluebell Horse by Patrick Deeley. Yes I can imagine this horse.
Such a lovely name Bluebell Hill. You don’t expect a dead paddock
smelling of diesel exhaust. Poor horse.

Third – Elegy for Myself by Jack Houston. A short poem
about a tree, or not. How simple but strong. How we only notice things
when they are broken/cut or perhaps just that they are unusual or out of place.
I love the honey-gold circumference of its centre (Virginia Griem)

From a wealth of wonderful poems:

1. Claudia Court’s Lap of Honour -brilliantly understated, concise and vivid.

2. Finola Scott- Spoils and Divisions

3. Anne Rath – Witness

4. Abuja Ghimire- landlady mua (Lynn Kramer)

 

Orbis 191 – Reader’s Choice

Joint First: Beth Booth: Splendid, and Passenger; David Greenslade:
Calf; Derek Healy: Remission

Joint Second: Gaynor Clements: Bole Hill;
Patrick Deeley: Bluebell Horse

Joint Third: Mike Barlow: The voice takes a break;
Jack Houston: Elegy for Myself

Honorable Mention: Lorna Sherry: The Dangers Of Spring ( Gail Dendy)

1. Jack Houston’s ‘No!’ is a remarkably powerful example
of how restrictive form can harness emotion, the shock of loss
and the devastation of grief. These fugue and accrue with each verse.

2. In ‘Pater Unfamilias’ Gaynor Clements generates a disconcerting
and finely-balanced ambiguity in describing the small details and large damage
of a thirty-year-old relationship. Skilfully, the poem reveals
how pivotal memories torment and affect us variously, over time.

3. There is a particular serenity about Simon Perchik’s ‘*’,
as its imagery pours down the page, like the fluid being observed
in a loved one’s cup. The apparently real links seamlessly with the figurative.

4. The measured tone of ‘Mock Sonnet IX’ belies a condensed
and lucid reflection on perceptions of madness. At the same time,
Sam Smith gives a reasoned voice to that older mindset, where doubt,
rather than apparent wisdom, accumulates over time (Will Daunt)

Thank you for another delightful choice of poems, difficult to pick just four.

(1) Maggie Butt Silence. Wonderful imagery of cloistered living.

(2) Patrick Deeley Wedding Gift Vivid insight to a clock’s life,
so like our own, with skipped beats and pauses.

(3) Gaynor Clements Pater Unfamilias A great poem
of love and forgiving.

(4) Anne Rath Witness Great description, a garden
of beauty etched with sadness (Katherine Noone)

Enjoyed #191, and for once I’m not too late to make a choice.

First: Lorna Sherry: The Nightjar. A very moving poem,
in which form and content work beautifully together.

Second: Doreen Hinchcliffe: The Return. Another moving poem;
the account of the writer’s experience and memories flows naturally,
without the sestina form becoming obtrusive. Not an easy feat.

Third: Claudia Court: Lap of Honour.
A powerful metaphor and a brilliant ending.

Fourth: Tina Tocco: Marriage. A really accomplished haiku:
a demonstration of how to say something important
in seventeen syllables (Michael Swan)

Orbis #191 was a great issue with several standout poems.
I admired Jack Houston’s ‘No!’ and Penny Sharman’s ‘Zip’.

But my votes go to:

1. Lorna Sherry, ‘The Nightjar’ for its mysterious beauty

2. Anna Rath, ‘Witness’ which is a brittle
and poignant tribute to W.S. Merwin

3. Doreen Hinchliffe, ‘The Return’, a deftly-worked sestina
that responds brilliantly to Edward Hopper’s canvas ‘House by the Railroad’.

1. Tina Tocco, ‘Marriage’, a haiku that really succeeds (Ben Keatinge)

Here are my votes for the Readers’ Award, #191

1: Mock Sonnet IX by Sam Smith

2: Yellow Earth by Isabel Greenslade

3: Badger by Gaynor Clements

4: Silence by Maggie Butt (Phil Knight)

Reader’s awards – My first preference is Mike Barlow’s
The voice takes a break, second Maggie Butt’s Even now,
third Jack Houston’s Elegy for myself   (John-Christopher Johnson)

 

1. Isabel Greenslade, Yellow Earth.
Striking personification with some great lines
2. Derek Healy, Remission.
Form well-matched to the idea. Good sonnet with slant rhymes.
3. Richard Hughes, Variations at a Taverna.
Nice use of sounds to capture a moment.
Any poem that includes Bach gets my vote.
4. Doreen Hinchliffe, The Return.
Apt use of form again. I know how hard sestinas are.
Otherwise, a bit too much cliché (Clifford Liles)

 

Many thanks for Issue 191, and a very fine one it is too
which made choosing my top four difficult although as chance
would have it the first poem my eyes fell upon when I opened my copy
was the one I have chosen as my winner. Spooky.

1.The Ninth Life by Gloria Keeley: an astonishing piece,
a tight rope poem no less! It has astonishing propulsion and scope.

2. The Cack-Hander’s Lament by Jack Debney: an inventive delight
that is amusing and confidently realised throughout.

3. The Dangers of Spring by Lorna Sherry: so well-written,
a note perfect short story. I also enjoyed her poem The Nightjar.

4. Badger by Gaynor Clements: an unflinching anti-pastoral poem
that is decidedly not beige.

Doreen Hinchliffe came close to being in my top 4 with her excellent sestina,
The Return, which is all the more remarkable because I have an aversion to sestinas!
Honourable mentions also to Anne Rath, David Greenslade, Mike Barlow,
Maggie Butt, Finola Scott and Jack Houston (David Mark Williams)

 

Hard to choose for the vote as it’s such a subjective response
amongst such a high standard.

But here goes: Joint first for Patrick Dooley’s Wedding Gift
and Bluebell Horse. I loved the detail and the feeling in both –
showed such empathy for that horse and as a retired
primary school teacher I was interested to hear the children’s reaction –
don’t find many poems about the classroom?

3. Splendid by Beth Booth – intrigued by the first line and loved the clicks.

4. The voice takes a break by Mike Barlow – liked the form
and the intriguing last couplet (Pam Gormally)

 

Here are my nominations for Orbis 191.
Lots of excellent poems and stories, so selection was difficult.
The piece I enjoyed most was a story:

Neelim Dundas The House of The Big Brown Eyes.
The writing was really good and drew me in immediately,
keeping my interest right to the end. It introduces us to the
horrors of the poor end of an Indian town, close to where
the priest’s sister and family live. We are introduced to the family
and how understanding and accepting of the state of things everyone is,
even the children. The 9-year old, like her mother, resents the priest’s
trying to give them a helping hand in the form of something lifted
from the collecting box. It is they who seem able to give the priest
a little lesson in morality, and he in turn is irked by it. Lovely tale.

Finola Scott. Spoils and Division. The sadness, almost tragedy
of a broken marriage with the protagonists arguing over how to divide
up the possessions. It’s something that happens all the time but here it is
drawn attention to with feeling, but also with humour. I smiled at the
Mason/Dixon analogy.
Anne Symons. Corsetière. It’s beautifully written and entertainingly informative,
with humorous touches such as subtly pulling the husbands in,
‘ Shantung silk, sir… Shall we try that on?’
Richard Hughes. Old song. Again, my attention was initially captured by
nostalgia. I’ve done this a few times myself. And the bitter sweet
ending, where declarations were made/in words from an old song,
rang very true for me (Vince Smith)

 

I really enjoyed reading this issue and it was very difficult

to pick my favourites out, but here they are :

1. Even Now – Maggie Butt.

2. Corestiere – Anne Symons.

3. Small Bird – Bill Dodd.

4. He – George Hopewell (Linda Ford)

After long deliberation, I arrived at my final votes.

1. Maggie Butt with Silence drew me in. Fantastic rhythm,

subject beautifully handled.

2. Kathryn MacDonald City of Tulum. Just as she described it…

I was there and one could imagine the sinister practices.

The last two lines leave you stunned with it’s imagery.

3.Peter Sutton Metamorphosis.

Nice buildup to what’s going to happen till last stanza surprises us.

4.George Hopewell He. Enjoyed satirical mood (Gabriella Fulda)

I haven’t numbered these, giving them equal weight:

Claudia Court’s Lap of Honour tells, simply, movingly,

of the day a father’s ashes are tipped and sprinkled

and tipped again from an urn around an airfield as

“the engines roar, purring his dirge”.

Maggie Butt, Even now and Silence. As the poet awaits the doctors’ verdict

and the days grow short possibly in more ways than one,

“the roses-fuchsias-dahlias /defiantly flower as if it were May”;

and in Silence, in a quiet room here is “tonly loom-clack, /pen-scratch,

clatter of knitting needles, / scrumble of paper, scrape-back of chairs,

the tolling of the bell, call of the bell, dying / mmmmm of the bell…”

Jack Houston, Elegy for Myself. This powerful poem

of awareness both of the external world and of self is both window and mirror.

Derek Healy’s Left poignantly captures a moment in time,

as a woman’s lover departs, slamming the door,

the hanger that held his jacket now “empty and loose, /

as though defying its weight / how slowly it subsides /

to moments when it may be stopped / or twitching still.”

Richard Hughes’s Variations at a taverna sets with metrical skill

and melodic movement a wonderful scene at a seaside cafe

where “girls are courted by their mobile phones”

and “the cicada will soon by playing Bach.”

Anne Symons. Corsetiere. A delightfully well-formed, well-corseted poem

in which the purveyor of fancy corsets tells tales (Zara Raab)

1. Beth Booth’s Splendid – A wonderful evocation

of The awful sliding spin of being alive

2. Tina Tocco’s Marriage – easy to overlook

because so short; but it says it all wonderfully economically

3. Ann Rath’s Witness – a more predictably poetic subject,

but evocative, with a couple of lovely images

4. Maggie Butt’s Silence –

she knows what shes doing, doesnt she…
(Jill Boucher)

1 Maggie Butt Silence – Very good writing which took me

right into the experience of the nun.

2 Beth Booth Passenger – I’ve experienced this fear of

being driven on motorways so this poem was very strong for me.

3 Lorna Sherry The Nightjar – Sometimes a simpler poem

seems powerful than a more complex one.

I think this is true of The Nightjar.

4 George Hopewell He – I enjoyed this one

especially the wry comment in the last line (Jenny Hamlett)

I notice that my selected poems are all by female poets.

I enjoyed reading several of the poems written by men;

but men (even poets) seem afraid of giving much of themselves away

in their poems – though Patrick Deeley’s ‘Wedding gift’ risks it….

First choice: The Dangers of Spring by Lorna Sherry.

She sets the scene so well. The mixture of longing satisfied

and terrible and growing unease. The shock of the end

is like the reality becomes exposed in all its violence. Masterful.

I also like her The Nightjar.

Second choice: Witness by Anne Rath This is a beautiful poem

culminating in those last three lines. I don’t think it’s a coincidence

that she mentions ‘holy’ because the poem is full of grace.

Third choice: The House of the big brown eyes by Neelim Dundas

Such an acute description of family tensions and insecurity.

Fourth Choice: 30 Days by Natalie Crick A powerful mixture

of rage and loss. The way it builds is so sure and effective.

I also wanted to mention Silence by Maggie Butt, Bluebell Horse

by Patrick Deeley, Mock Sonnet IX by Sam Smith,

No! by Jack Houston, Small Bird by Bill Dodd

and Powder Closet, Southside House by Ben Bransfield (Jim Conwell)

Enjoyed the 191 edition and voting for:

Natalie Crick – 30 Days, Richard Hughes – Variations at a taverna,

Penny Sharman – All the myths in the dark and Derek Healy – Left   (Andy Eycott)

Here are my Readers’ Awards for Orbis 191

1) Corsetiere by Anne Symons is a very funny well-observed poem.

I liked the detail that the corsetiere addresses the husbands

when they are there: “We do a Shantung silk, sir…”

“Unbiblical” in the last line also works a treat.

2) Even now by Maggie Butt is a brave and evocative poem.

The repetition of “even now” builds up a sense of urgency

and I liked the imagery, particularly “the whole cavalcade

of summer had just whooped into town”.

3) Yellow Earth by Isabel Greenslade gives a vivid picture

of the yellow diggers “chinning up the clay in grinning jaws.”

1. The Return by Doreen Hinchcliffe. I’ve always liked

2. the work of Edward Hopper and I can see his painting in this poem.

3. A successful sestina like this one is not easy to pull off (Michael Henry)

It’s good to have some wonderful poems to take my mind off

the everyday, but an even harder choice than usual and that’s saying something…

Marjorie Maddox – ‘Ode to Normal’. This really resonated with me,

given current times, although not, I suspect, written that recently.

Loved the bright fresh images and ‘the almost unbearable urge to breakdance

on the kitchen table’. Really clever and enjoyable.

Jack Houston – ‘No!’. I was fascinated by the careful construction of this poem

and how it built up to the final catastrophe. Very visual and powerful. A most fitting memorial.

Peter Sutton – ‘Mr Bounce’. The circus feel of the first verse develops into

an examination of human determination to keep going whatever the circumstances.

Claudia Court – ‘Lap of Honour’ – Loved the idea of this surreptitious scattering of the ashes.

The last two lines surge with the engines to give a strong and triumphant finale (Anne Banks)

I have really enjoyed reading the magazine – so many interesting poems. Here are my votes:

1. Isabel Greenslade ‘Mr Starling’ and ‘Yellow Earth’

2. Jack Houston ‘No!’ and ‘Elegy for Myself’

3. Finola Scott ‘Spoils and Division’

4. Derek Healy ‘Left’

I also liked ‘Passenger’ – Beth Booth, ‘The Return’ –

Doreen Hinchliffe, and ‘Metamorphosis’ – Peter Sutton (Meg Barton)

I especially liked the two poems by Derek Healy, and the story by Neil Beardmore,

which is not merely funny, but is also profound. –

it should be read by every teacher in every school (Robin Gregory)

As ever, it is almost impossible to choose from such a treasure box of goodies.

But a choice must be made. So (after much uncertainty and guilt – this one, that one…?)

here are my favourite poems from Orbis 191,

Commended:

Jack Debney – ‘The Cack-Hander’s Lament.’ This poor, clumsy chap sounds

a great deal like me – many spills and falls just seem to happen.

Anne Rath – ‘Witness.’ Those final three lines feel like a prayer or a gentle spell.

Patrick Deeley – ‘Wedding Gift.’ Time given, time used and time passing. Poor old clock !

David Martin – ‘Hell On Earth.’ Enjoyed the third circle’s artful fate.

Joint Fourth: Beth Booth – ‘Passenger.’ This whole poem echoes

my own sense of doom whenever I step inside a car.

Liked the reference to a Titanic disaster !

Joint Fourth: Isabelle Greenslade – ‘Yellow Earth’. I like the way

Diggers have evolved to look like Dinosaurs –

and now they’re busily destroying our poor, green planet.

Third Place: George Hopewell – ‘He.’ That perfect punchline did it for me !

Joint Second: Ben Bransfield – ‘Powder Closet, Southside House.’

Such economic words, while so much hinges on the boy’s ‘flourpuff lungs’.

This one lingers like arsenic.

Joint Second: Maggie Butt: ‘Silence.’ Now we’re all in Lockdown –

and many people have little communication with friends or family.

But this rich description of quietness almost becomes a calming luxury – or at least, an escape !

First Place: Claudia Court – ‘Lap Of Honour.’

This poem spoke to me. Our family

has had to decide where we should scatter the ashes of parents –

and this month I have already lost three friends.

So this ‘Lap Of Honour’ was a perfect tribute,

combining love, humour and an apt farewell.

Thank you all (Clare Bevan)

I nominate, in alphabetical order: Maggie Butt – Silence;

Bill Dodd – Small bird; Derek Healy – Left; Richard Hughes –

Variations at a taverna. I also very much liked: Maggie Butt – Even now;

Patrick Deeley – Bluebell Horse; Jan Fitzgerald – The numen

(though I wish she could have avoided the over-used “shape shifter”);

Jack Houston – Elegy for myself; Anne Symons – Corsetière. (Robin Gilbert)

My votes for Orbis #191; Hard choices from another great edition:

1/ Maggie Butt – Even Now – It’s beautiful description of

passing seasons and the way life goes on, with or without us.

2/ Mike Barlow – The Voice Takes A Break – I love this idea

of disembodied voices chatting among themselves.

3/Derek Healy – Left – Short and sweet, it says so much, effortlessly.

4/ Gaynor Clements – You’re Never More Than Six Feet From

An Elvis Impersonator Great images of all these Elvises (Elvii?)

with bony hips and curled lips (Robin Daglish)

Orbis #191 Readers’ Award Comments

1. Patrick Deeley: Bluebell Horse. “Imagine a horse…”

the poem begins. Yes, we can, with such vivid description of the sorry state

of the creature, and the desolation of its surroundings. There is the cyclist trying,

by speaking to the horse, to “uncrease/a grievance”; and the heartening desire

of the children for “restoring him to himself”. The poem ends with a somewhat sinister stanza.

The pylons, which “look full of the joys as they twinkle and sing” hint at much of life which holds hidden dangers.

2. Maggie Butt: Even now. A poem of wonder at the way

the natural world carries on, regardless of the suffering of someone who is ill.

The repeated “even now” emphasises this. Every stanza contains striking phrases.

We also feel the suffering of the carer in “a party/I wasn’t invited to”

and “fingers shrieking with cold”. Flowers carry on regardless,

as if summer has “whooped into town”; and some of the plants are cutting through

the gloom as they “scissor their way up”, “green-blading the air”.

3. Claudia Court: Lap of Honour. For the first three couplets, I was imagining

a family outing, a picnic perhaps in a rather strange setting. Then it becomes clear

that the bag contains father’s ashes. There is the brief hint at sorrow in the description

of the journey’s hours, his years, the weight of the urn. Then exhilaration as the sisters scatter

his ashes in a place he loved, leaving him “swerving full throttle on the wind”.

1. Jack Houston: Elegy for Myself. The first two stanzas give a clear description

2. of what remains of the tree and its position. I found myself imagining where

3. the stump would reach on me; and my fingers running over the “honey-gold…smooth top”

4. of the stump. But the real loss, and the reason for the title,

5. is expressed so well in those final two lines (Helen Ashley)

This issue is packed full of talent, and I found it very hard to narrow my choices down,

but these are the ones I kept coming back to.

1. The voice takes a break by Mike Barlow. A brilliant poem, and the ‘perfect space’

to comment on the power of what goes unsaid.

2. Even now by Maggie Butt. A beautiful poem, which addresses the continuity

of nature, ‘swelling buds’, despite the darkness.

3. Left by Derek Healy Encapsulates the actions of a few life changing moments,

in heartbreaking, microscopic detail.

4. Corsetiere by Anne Symons This poem feels as seamless as the stitching

required for a well made corset. The opening lines are fantastic.

I also loved, City Of Tulum by Kathryn Macdonald, Passengers by Beth Booth,

Wedding Gift by Patrick Deeley and both pieces by Lorna Sherry
(Claire Louise Hunt)

Here are my four choices for the Orbis #191 Readers’ Award:

1. Claudia Court – Lap of Honour. I like the unusual link between

the racecourse and the dead father’s ashes; the contrast between loud speed and scattered silence.

2. Mike Barlow – The voice takes a break. The opening

and closing stanzas have just the right amount of emphasis.

Not a word is wasted in this poem.

3. Maggie Butt – Silence. This is a silence in which there are

many sounds, both inner and outer.

2. Marjorie Maddox – Ode To “Normal”. How well this poet conveys

3. the feeling of tension: the holding back of impulses and emotions (Jenny Johnson)

My choices, with difficulty reduced to four:

Claudia Court Lap of Honour Setting neatly introduced, the mystery

of the visit skilfully explained and a telling revelation in the last two lines. Clever use of couplets.

Lorna Sherry The Nightjar A quiet poem full of atmosphere,

where the outdoors and indoors balance each other, and with a structure

and use of repetition which hold the ideas together.

Jan Fitzgerald The Numen Intriguing, with insight

into a child’s mind and the sense of time passing.

Finola Scott Spoils and Division A familiar subject treated in a very original way,

with a pleasingly concrete style of description and a telling, somewhat menacing, last line (Jenny King)

My choices for the Readers’ Award are as follows; four outstanding poems:

1st: Anne Symons for Corsetiere: deliciously unusual and very well written.

2nd: Patrick Deeley for Bluebell Horse; the most truthful description

I’ve ever read of those worn-out horse paddocks that lie

on the outer rings of towns and cities. Excellent.

3rd: Bill Dodd for small bird, an unusual leap from the tiny repeated sound

of a bird to thoughts of god.. Lovely

4th: Maggie Butt for Even now. The repetition of ‘even now’

at the beginning of each stanza was very well handled (Gill McEvoy)

Here are my choices

1st Peter Sutton : Mr Bounce

2nd Jack Houston No!

3rd Anne Duncan At Dinner

4th Lorna Skarry The Nightjar

What an issue – difficult to choose beyond ‘No!

I would give my eye teeth to have written the first two –

Sutton so sharp, so witty and so dark and Houston’s wonderful villanelle.

Dylan Thomas taught us that a villanelle could be strong and serious and Houston confirms. this

(Robin Ford)

I’ve marked so many powerful and original poems this time and ones

that made me smile – Doreen Hinchcliffe’s The Return,Marjorie Maddox’s Ode to Normal,

George Hopewell’s He, Lorna Sherry’s The Nightjar, Patrick Deeley’s Bluebell Horse,

Maggie Butt’s Silence and Even Now, Beth Booth’s Splendid, Bill Dod’s small bird,

and Anne Symon’s Corsetière. They were all different and so well crafted.

Readers Award

1st Maggie Butt – Silence

2nd Patrick Deeley – Bluebell Horse

3rd Beth Booth – Splendid (Jenna Plewes)

I enjoyed, was moved by and admired 10 poems in this issue but my final choice:

Left by Derek Healy

Even Now by Maggie Butt

Wedding Gift by Patrick Deeley

I’d give a lot to have written one of these. Two thoughts: in Wedding Gift

the line ‘where a stranger’s paintings had hung’ I think is unnecessary

and the line and a half in Maggie’s ‘when doctors can’t agree and talk percentages

oddsing it like bookies’ is masterly – the point of the poem just slipped in.

My other seven poems were, in no order of preference

Hell on Earth by Dave Martin

Bole Hill II by Gaynor Clements

Pater Unfamilias by Gaynor Clements

Bluebell Horse by Patrick Deeley

Silence by Maggie Butt

The Numen by Jan Fitzgerald

small bird by Bill Dodd (Dorothy Pope)

I very much enjoyed the #191 edition. My vote goes to Yellow Earth

by Isabel Greenslade. I found this both playful and descriptive,

with a sense of earth and image, and machine grinding into nature. I really enjoyed it.

Second vote to Tina Tocco’s Marriage. Beautifully expressed in three lines!

Third, Claudia Court’s Lap of Honour, a poignant metaphor.

4. Dave Martin’s Corner of a Foreign Field.

I also enjoyed Jan FitzGerald’s The numen and loved the first verse

“When I was a child he emerged at night from a gnarl in the apple tree.”

Also “on a night too bright for sleeping” was atmospheric.

Beth Booth’s Passenger conjured up well the anxiety around being in a car

not driven well, or allowing one’s child to go into a car where one does not know

or trust the driver, or worrying about the other drivers on the road who might injure oneself

or a loved one. Also the pollution factor and its impact on the environment, well expressed.

Silence by Maggie Butt had some descriptive words and phrasing especially in the second verse –

clitter of knitting needles, scrumble of paper…

I found both Patrick Deeley’s poems poignant (Helen Whitten)

Votes and comments on Orbis #191

1st Isabel Greenslade – Yellow Earth – wonderful imagery of diggers

at play, when their work might rip up the forests of the world.

2nd Mike Barlow – The voice takes a break – I enjoy poems about silence and the unsaid

3rd Natalie Crick – At Dinner – a step into the macabre,

but a recognised moment of not really all right.

4th Anne Symons – Corsetière – Delicious (Sue Spiers)

#191 is terrifc, best Orbis I’ve read

with the incredibly high standard of your selection of poems:

1^st: Gaynor Clements for Pater Unfamilias. I enjoyed all five

and could have chosen two or three of the others, but this was the best.

2^nd: Patrick Deeley for Wedding Gift. Fresh and original with a great last verse

Joint 3^rd: Doreen Hinchcliffe for The Return. Excellent and moving combination

of mystery and emotion though even better if Hopper reference was omitted;

could be used as preamble at readings?

Jack Houston for Elegy for Myself. Clever, complex and denser, the more I read it (Peter Ebsworth)

In some issues of Orbis, the task of selection for Reader’s Award is almost impossible.

This is one of those. I will write it quickly before I change my mind again.

1. Lap of Honour by Claudia Court and Pater Unfamilias by Gaynor Clements

2. Silence by Maggie Butt ( enjoyed both of her poems)

3. small bird by Bill Dodd – loved those last few stanzas

4. The Voice takes a Break by Mike Barlow and Mr Bounce by Peter Sutton (loved the musicality in this)

Also really liked: Bluebell Horse by Patrick Deeley, Corsetiere by Anne Symons

and so many more of the witty well-written and interesting poems. But that’s not helpful is it? (Eve Jackson)

 

 

Orbis 174, Winter

£5 (Overseas: £9/€12/$16); Subs: £18/4 pa (Overseas: £35/€42/$58)

Front cover artwork: ‘Contemplation’ byChristopher Langley;
back cover, detail from image: www.christopherlangley.net

The light is brightening, finally, dawning you could say, with much to contemplate. For example,
Richard Toovey and Thirty-Six-Immortal-Poets-Japanese-Asian-Culture-/360314130089 pt=Art
_Prints&hash=item53e4. But keep a very close watch on Colin Sutherill’s Snake Eyes
when accompanying Andy Hickmott andZoology 101. Instead, you could head for the coast
to watch Carolyn Oulton watching the Ebb-Tide, or join Beth Somerford
at Ditchling Beacon, steering clear of The Hound of the Baskervilles (Will Kemp)
and David Greenslade’s Wicker Basket Tank if it comes at you, maybe After a minor medical hiatus
(Elizabeth Birchall)… So, back where we started, and Antony Mair is Thinking of Shelley in the Winter Gales,
John Vickers pondering The white shadow, while Paul Connolly considers the Night and Stars
Indisputable Truth (Bogusia Wardein), that’s what you are mostly going to find in this issue –
though maybe best take it easy with Jenny Hamlett and The Enchanted Cakes at Capenhurst

Featured Poet

Michael Coy: Ambrose Clues-Up Augustine; Hitler’s Watercolours

Poems from: Roger Caldwell: John Steed in retirement remembers Mrs Peel;
Jane Houston: Piddocks; Eve Jackson: It isn’t easy being sea;
Jules Whiting: Tucked Between the Pages of a Wordless Glance; Jeremy Young: Metamorphosis

Prose from: Michael Coy: McBurney’s Urn; Jilly Funnell; Dinner Date;
Laura Solomon (with Kya Solomon, Zoe Solomon and Nadia Smith): Castle

Translation: David Ball: François Migeot: Faces

Past Master: Jean O’Brien on Dora Sigerson Shorter

Reviews by David Harmer, Jennifer A. McGowan, Clairr O’Connor, D. A. Prince,
Lynne Taylor, David Troman and Noel Williams

Orbis 174 contributors also include:

Arthur Broomfield, Shane Doheny, Julie Lumsden, Achilleas Katsaros,
Rupert M Loydell, Katherine Noone, Ann Osbourn, Rob Packer,
Donna Pucciani, Adam Rooke, Alexandra Sashe,
K.V. Skene, Sheila Spence, Jean Stevens, Marc Swan, Frank Wood