Listening to Owls

Now we seal a double decade
with rituals shaped by death,
separation cloaked in promise

and sleeplessness on Christmas Eve,
when two owls connect
across a purple sky,

their long range communication,
their call and response confirmation,
I'm doing fine, how are you

​how are you.

Listening to Owls

...a deep concern with the act of remembering, dealing with the specific details of time and place which are both personal and universal in their scope. Peopled with characters such as Mr Rohan, whose frown says "I think I know your dad", to the relative who is never spoken of because of "not sharing the line of blood", these poems are tender and life-affirming. Tea is drunk, life passes, but not without a keen eye and ear attending to the subtle resonance of each fleeting moment.

Julie Mellor

Author, Breathing Through Our Bones



Listening to Owls by John Irving Clarke is available via Currock Press

£5

ISBN: 9780957542273