“Louise Warren uses grief as an artist uses a sharpened pencil to delicately illustrate that what we leave, we inevitably return to whether through memories or myth. Nature and Death are dancing partners in this beautifully moving collection of poems which explore the idea of roots in family and place. An earthy reverence combined with the keenest observation brings Somerset alive from the ashes of the past. Here, we find apples, owls, folklore, riddles, hedgerows, all linked by the character of John Dust, who is so much more than mere mortality: “I will be your Silhouette, your Diplomat, your Compass” (‘Swifts’). Indeed, the footnote lets us know that these are all caravans. We are in sympathetic imaginative territory to Jacob Polley’s award-winning Jackself where the reader is engaged and often lulled, only to be taken by surprise. It could be argued this how the process of bereavement works – you think you have arrived at a certain point, only to be off-balanced, but the sense of re-discovery of something lost in these poems, is a joyous reclamation. Many of the poems have found recognition in poetry competitions, but this is more than a collection of standout poems; it is the whole that makes it remarkable. The pamphlet is also illustrated with fine drawings by the artist, John Duffin, which match Warren’s words with their deft yet delicate strokes and serve to highlight the wistful strength of this collection.” Lisa Kelly
“Riddles and rhythms weave the wonderful spell of John Dust – Louise Warren's original Somerset legend is a brilliant feat of imagination, and will leave you wanting more stories of this mythical man and his exquisitely off-kilter world.” Kate Garrett
Like a character from a contemporary Somerset folktale, John Dust is very atmospheric and very bewitching.
ISBN: 978-1-9165052-8-5
36 pages
R.R.P. £6.50
A John Dust sample poem by Louise Warren and illustration by John Duffin can be found below.
BUY John Dust using the paypal buttons (with delivery options) below.
The Marshes
In the barn, my sofa stands in its puff of white breath,
heavy, patient, packed in tight with the herd,
waiting. I wait for it.
Downstairs, the afternoon moves heavily around the house,
a washing line turns slowly on its stalk,
the carpet in the hallway runs a sluggish ditch.
Back then, before they built on it, back then
the path stumped short into nettles, just fields,
arm of the sky bent round, empty.
Empty as pockets, empty as churches,
empty as milk pails rusting on gateposts.
I look out the windows milky with flat screens,
empty as ditches,
cold in the kitchen, biting like nettles,
sheeny as hoar frost.
Deep inside the bathroom I undress myself for you,
John Dust.
Down to the sedge and water, down to the beak of me,
sharp in the reed bed, down to the hidden.
I strip the light from my skin until I am overcast,
become cloud cover.
John Dust.
My man under the motorway,
flat out in the dark fields, seeding the hedges,
scratching your chest hair, wispy as larches,
pinking like evening, stitchwort and abattoir, bloody as Sedgemoor,
lipped up with cider, scraggy as winter.
You fetch each room, one by one, back to the marshes.
Plant forks and teaspoons, chairs for the heron’s nest,
propped up and broken,
the sky rusting over, smashed up with egg yolks,
water as mirror, water as leather, water as smoke, as trick,
a light under the door.
I stand in the empty
waiting for nothing.
Birds in the buckthorn, a house full of berries.
LAUNCH EVENTS & READINGS
Friday, 6 September 2019
Venue: 49 Great Ormond St, London WC1N 3HZ
6.30 (doors open at 6.15) TO 9.30.
Louise Warren will be reading from her new pamphlet John Dust, with guest poets.
Followed by a wine reception.
Free.
Thursday, 3 October 2019 (8pm-10pm)
Reading at Fire River Poets at the Creative Innovation Centre (CIC), Memorial Hall, Paul St, Taunton, Somerset TA1 3PF.
Monday, 2 December 2019
Wells Fountain Poets, Venue tbc, Wells, Somerset
Please look at website for further details: Fountain Poets.
Thursday, 2 April 2020
Venue: At the Chapel, High St, Bruton, Somerset.
Please look at website for further details: atthechapel.co.uk.
Thursday, 30 April 2020
Words and Ears, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire.
Please look at website for further details: dawngorman.co.uk.
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