Robbie Cheadle's Blog, page 44
December 5, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – WordCrafter Book Tour: Resurrection Mixtape by Jeff Bowles
Today, I am delighted to welcome Jeff Bowles to Robbie’s Inspiration for Day 2 of his WordCrafter Press Book Blog Tour.
GiveawayFor this tour we’re giving away 3 signed print copies of Resurrection mixtape and a $25 Amazon gift card. To enter, just tell
us the top three songs on your mixtape in the comments. Come on now. We really want to know.
Winners will be chosen in a random drawing.
Experimentation and Killer Tunes: Writing Resurrection MixtapeResurrection Mixtape represents nothing more or less than a personal dare. Every author has their own special way of producing books. Sometimes it varies from project to project, but more or less, we all have our preferred methods.
But I was interested in breaking my own personal mold. For years, I’ve been writing short stories without an outline. I wondered if I could do the same with a novel, which until that point I hadn’t. I was a traditional pen-and-ink, notecard system, outline guy. Especially when I crafted the thesis novel for my MFA. That process had been rigid as rigid could be, and for the most part, I liked the results.
Yet I was always haunted by something Stephen King asserted in his autobiography/magnum opus writing manual, On Writing. King has always maintained, and many notable authors would agree, that the best way to tell any kind of gripping, surprising, seat-of-your-pants story is to formulate an interesting scenario, a jumping-off point, a what-if, and then to begin work without any sense of where you’re going or how you’ll get there.
Like this, King tells us, we could theoretically drive from New York to Los Angeles with nothing but our headlights. Who needs a map? We’ve got too much ground to cover to even consider using a map.
The what-if scenario in Resurrection Mixtape came from my wife, as many of “my” best story ideas have. She has a knack for killer concepts, and when I ask if I can use one, she always jokes, ”Yes, but I get all the credit.”
So here I am, giving her all the credit. Resurrection Mixtape would not exist without of her. The original seed was this: what if the songs of a mixtape could bring someone back to life, bit by bit, track by track? Moreover, what if the deceased person in question somehow made that tape, or had it made for them, with the understanding that it could also resurrect a long-dead love that never quite made the right connection.
Now to be fair, my wife and I hammered this concept into place together. We always do. We work excellently together and always have. What happened after our jumping off point was anyone’s guess. I couldn’t have known, for instance, about the existence of a dark conglomeration of spirits interested in earthly domination. I also couldn’t have known the book would turn into such a twisted love story, all structured around the mutual appreciation for a large selection of pop songs shared by our two main protagonists, Jason Halifax and Emily Greer.
It’s Emily who arrives unexpectedly at Jason’s doorstep, having died in a house fire a full year before, looking pristine, naked as the day she was born (because really, if you’re coming screaming back into the world molecule for molecule, who’s got time for clothes?).
And yes, it’s the music that gives the story life. From The Beatles to The Weeknd, Billy Joel to The Temptations, Taylor Swift, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, I didn’t discriminate based on era, popularity, or even the relative cultural coolness factor of any given selection. Most writers who create worlds in which music factors heavily are very interested in picking tunes that are cool. Not me. First I wanted to include stuff I like for one reason or another, and my range of music appreciation is pretty broad, and then secondly, I needed songs that fit the scenes.
It could be argued (in fact, it’s argued all the time) that it’s a bad idea to write a book about music at all, because most of your audience won’t have heard every last song. Balderdash. There are ways of describing music that make its intentions and vibes clear and experiential. And you never know, maybe putting a few unknown gems in a piece of fiction will engender the need for readers to explore some pretty awesome tunes. That’s one of my high hopes for the release of Resurrection Mixtape, music appreciation for whomever comes across it.
This experiment of a book resulted in one bloated manuscript that needed to be paired down by half. That’s what I discovered about the process. That because I didn’t use an outline, it was easier to begin but harder to finish. That process alone took the bulk of the project timeline. It was arduous and slow, but sure enough, once the dead weight had been carved away, I arrived at something very much like a quality piece of fiction. I hope you enjoy Resurrection Mixtape for what it is, a humble and bored writer’s attempt at stretching his wings. And my wife hopes you like it to. After all, she gets all the credit. Every last ounce of it. It’s all in the music, man. Press play at your own risk.
BlurbEmily has been dead a year, but that doesn’t stop her from crashing in on her former best friend’s life in a whirlwind of mayhem, dark magic, and music. She’s been resurrected by a supernatural mixtape full of excellent but probably evil pop tunes. Amazing powers of transformation flow through her, piece-by-piece endowing her with abilities beyond anyone’s understanding. Within and without, a dark presence dwells, ready to express itself in all sorts of colorful and destructive ways. It’s all in the music, man. Press “PLAY” at your own risk.
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Resurrection-Mixtape-Jeff-Bowles-ebook/dp/B0BKYG2JJQ/
About Jeff Bowles
Jeff Bowles is a science fiction and horror writer from the mountains of Colorado. The best of his outrageous and imaginative work can be found in God’s Body: Book One – The Fall, Love/Madness/Demon, Godling and Other Paint Stories, Fear and Loathing in Las Cruces, and Brave New Multiverse. He has published work in magazines and anthologies like PodCastle, Tales from the Canyons of the Damned, the Threepenny Review, and Dark Moon Digest. Jeff earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at Western State Colorado University. He currently lives in the high-altitude Pikes Peak region, where he dreams strange dreams and spends far too much time under the stars.
Follow the tour here:Resurrection Mixtape – December 5 – 9
Monday – December 5 – Interview – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – December 6 – Guest Post – Robbie’s Inspiration
Wednesday – December 7 – Review – Writing to be Read
Thursday – December 8 – Guest Post – Roberta Writes
Friday – December 9 – Guest Post & Review – Carla Loves to Read
Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: Braised chicken in white wine
I prefer the skin on chicken pieces in casseroles to be crispy which is why I like this dish.
Ingredients2 peppers ( I used 1 yellow and 1 red) reseeded and chopped
16 pieces of chicken with skin
2 medium onions peeled and chopped
1 Tablespoon dried rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
100 grams black olives de-pipped and halved
250 ml white wine
400 ml chicken stock
Olive oils for cooking
MethodHeat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Salt and pepper the chicken pieces to taste. In a pot on the stove, heat the oil and braise the chicken, 8 pieces at a time. Remove the chicken from the pot and fry the onions and the peppers for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and rosemary and sauté for another few minutes. Spoon the onion mixture into the bottom of a casserole dish and layer the chicken on top, skin up. Add the olives and pour over the wine and then the chicken stock. The top of the chicken pieces should be above the liquid. Cook with the lid on for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 15 minutes.
Serve with rice.
We had a huge storm today. I do love rain but not necessarily the entire seasons on the same day.
This is my last recipe for this year. Enjoy!
December 3, 2022
Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair 2022 – New Books on the Shelves – #Childrens – The Christmas Bird and Sir Chocolate and the Missing Christmas Harp by Robbie Cheadle
Thank you to Sally Cronin from Smorgasbord blog for this beautiful post about Michael and my two new books, The Christmas Bird and Sir Chocolate and the Missing Christmas Harp. Smorgasbord is a beautiful magazine-styled blog with lots of interesting articles about books, health, music and many other exciting topics.
Welcome to the Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair with a selection of books from personally recommended authors on my bookshelf I believe will make wonderful gifts for friends, family and for you.
First a lovely Christmas story for children from Robbie Cheadle, the perfect gift for 8-12 year olds who love to read. The Christmas Bird… available on Kindle Unlimited but also for sale.
About the story.
The Deanne family is having a difficult time financially. Mr. Deanne’s business has failed and there is no money for Christmas presents and other luxuries. The family’s undernourished dogs discover a bird’s nest on Christmas Day and attack and kill the chicks. All except one tiny ball of fluff with luminous bright eyes like drops of oil. The baby bird is in shock, but the four Deanne girls try to save it. Will the Christmas Bird survive?
One of the early reviews…
View original post 557 more words
November 30, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration: Book reviews – Elizabeth’s War by D.L. Finn and A Wonder of Words by Leon Stevens
What Amazon saysIt’s April of 1917, and World War I has reached Elizabeth’s family on their wheat farm in North Dakota. Although the battles are being fought overseas, the war has affected her in ways she couldn’t have imagined. Elizabeth is thrust into a new role after her brother and father leave the farm to do their part in the war. And she’s only eleven years old!
Having almost died as a toddler, Elizabeth has been babied most of her life. Now she must learn to help out around the farm; cooking, cleaning, and tending to the garden and livestock. No longer can she run from her responsibilities, as she did when her horse Rosie was giving birth. There were complications during the delivery, and Elizabeth panicked and froze. The foal didn’t make it.
Elizabeth faces her biggest challenge yet as a huge Christmas Eve snowstorm rages outside, cutting her family off from any help; and her mother is about to have a baby! Her brother and sister are laid up with chicken pox. Does Elizabeth face her fears or run from them? Can she help her family, who need her more now than ever? Or will she retreat like she did when Rosie needed her?
This book, aimed at children and young teens, is the perfect tool for gently instructing youngsters about the horror of war in a relatable way.
Elizabeth and her family live on a farm on the outskirts of a small town in North Dakota. Although the war in Europe has been going on for over three years, it has not touch Elizabeth’s life. That changes when President Wilson’s administration declares war on Germany and brings the USA into the war. Elizabeth’s father, older brother, Douglas, and her sister’s boyfriend cum fiancé, Simon, all volunteer to fight. Douglas and Simon are both sent to France to fight and Elizabeth’s father is sent to a camp in the USA to help train the soldiers.
Elizabeth, who has been spoiled by her family, and especially her older sister, Pearl, suddenly finds herself in a whole new world where she needs to step up and start making a bigger contribution to the welfare of her family. Elizabeth learns to cook and do more chores around the farm as well as be a stalwart supporter of her best friend, Sarah, and Sarah’s grandfather, and her own family, when tragedy strikes.
In addition to all the change due to the advent of war, Elizabeth must also try to appreciate and understand Pearl’s support of the suffragette movement and nurse various family members through illnesses and other health issues.
This is a delightful story of a young girl’s transition from girlhood to young adulthood and her maturity as an individual, friend and family member.
Purchase Elizabeth’s WarD.L. Finn’s Amazon Author page
A Wonder of Words by Leon Stevens
What Amazon saysRemember when you first learned that a grouping of owls was a parliament?
In his second poetry collection, Leon Stevens explores familiar themes such as human nature, the environment, and personal observations, many with a touch of humor. Also included are the poems from the 30 Poems in 30 Days Challenge and a short story inspired by one of them.
My reviewI have read Leon Stevens previous collection of poetry and enjoyed his humorous take on life and everyday irritations very much. When I saw he’d published a new collection, it was an obvious buy for me.
A Wonder of Words is divided into different grouping of poems about specific events, circumstances, or emotional states of the poet and the topics vary from Poems with Humour, to Creations from Quarantine, to The Environment. The last section of the book is devoted to thirty poems in thirty days for the National Poetry Month Challenge which the poet participated in. The challenge requires poets to write to a specified daily prompt and the author rose admirably to the task with a collection of entertaining and varied poems.
I enjoyed all the poems in the collection, but the four poems under Creations from Quarantine section resonated with me especially strongly. Perhaps because the lockdowns and pandemic period impacted all of us equally throughout the world and we all had similar anxieties, fluctuations of worry and aggravation, and a sense of the orderliness of life breaking down.
This poem, Silver Linings, puts a positive spin on lockdown life:
“Through disaster she stops her pining
There may just be a silver lining
Her lifeblood no longer quickly drains
From her old and deep and weary veins
No longer does it hurt to breathe
No smoggy air to make her wheeze
Regaining sight and through the tears
She hadn’t seen the stars for years
Skin once wrinkled begins to heal
And younger she begins to feel
For a while, she thinks, it will be easier
As Mother Nature sits and takes a breather.
This is a collection all lovers of poetry are sure to enjoy.
Purchase A Wonder of Words by Leon StevensNovember 28, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – recipes from around the world: Italian bolognese sauce
I do like Italian Bolognese sauce and I’ve made a few. This recipe is the result of my learnings and has a good balance of tomato flavour. You can make it using any type of minced meat you want and it will still taste very flavorful. It is best served with spaghetti.
Ingredients1 large onion, peeled and chopped,
3 large carrots, peeled and grated
4 celery fingers, chopped
2 x 125 ml red wine
1 kilogram beef minced meat
690 ml Italian tomato puree
1 tin peeled cherry tomatoes
1 tin diced tomatoes
60 grams tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
MethodHeat the olive oil in a pot and add the onion. Cook the onion for about 5 minutes until transparent. Add the grated carrots and celery and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add 125 ml of red wine and cook for 10 minutes. Add the minced meat and allow to brow for about 15 minutes. Break the meat up and stir to ensure it browns evenly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the rest of the red wine and cook for a further 10 minutes. Add the tomato purée. Diced tomatoes, baby tomatoes, and tomato paste, crush the baby tomatoes as you combine everything. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. If the liquid boils away, add 125 ml of boiling water.
Add 1 liter of chicken stock and continue to simmer for at least 2 hours or until the sauce is thick. Serve with spaghetti.
November 25, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – Poetry book tour: Do What You Love by M.J. Mallon and a review #poetry #bookreview #readingcommunity
Today, I am excited to welcome M.J. Mallon to Robbie’s Inspiration with your lovely new poetry book, Do What You Love. I have read all four of M.J.’s poetry books as well as both of her The Curse of Time Novels and enjoyed them very much. M.J. has a beautifully descriptive style of writing which suits the world building requirements of fantasy very well.
BlurbDo What You Love Fragility of Your Flame Poems, Photography & Flash Fiction is a personal poetry collection celebrating how the fates may have a part in all that we do.
With special poems and short reflective moments inspired by family, flowers and nature, love, scrumptious morsels, places I’ve visited, lived and intend to live in, the friendships and hopes I have for the future.
The overarching theme is to live a life well lived… And to do what you love.
float along with me
create clouds of sweetest joy
to do what you love
hold fate’s hand as we venture
near and far on life’s journey
My reviewThis is a beautiful and personal account through poetry, prose and photographs, of the emotional highs and lows of the poet’s life. The poet is accompanied on her walk down memory lane by the three sisters of fate, the Morai: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos with whom she engages in conversation about the particular moments in time highlighted by the poems.
While the poems are personal, their themes are universal which makes them relatable to the reader and facilitates emotional engagement with the particular set of circumstances detailed in the various syllabic poems. The poems are accompanied by beautiful photographs, many of which are nature orientated. I particularly liked the Botanical Gardens Cambridge UK.
One of my favourite poems in the collection is My Daughters. Perhaps this one appeals so much to me because my own sons are standing on the cusp of adulthood and will soon be flying the nest. This is a short extract:
“Now the drama’s nearly over. I tremble.
Expecting the next crisis to come
rippling around the lake.
The waters swaying. It’s stiller now.
They’re wiser.”
This is a book that is best savoured slowly over a glass of wine.
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BKLC9DYY/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/What-You-love-Fragility-Photography-ebook/dp/B0BKLC9DYY/
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/What-You-love-Fragility-Photography-ebook/dp/B0BKLC9DYY/
Add the book to your TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63114445-do-what-you-love
About the book coverThe cover of the paperback and kindle have been designed by Colleen Chesebro who has a new service for authors which I can highly recommend. Colleen also designed the interior and cover of The Hedge Witch And The Musical Poet.
https://unicorncatspubservices.wordpress.com/my-services
Portfolio:
https://unicorncatspubservices.wordpress.com/portfolio
https://wordcraftpoetry.com/unicorn-cats-publishing-services/
I am thrilled to say that two of my poetry collections, (Mr. Sagittarius and Lockdown Innit,) have been requested by prestigious libraries in the UK: The British Library, The Bodleian Library Oxford University, the Cambridge University Library, National Library of Scotland, National Library of Wales and Trinity College Dublin for Legal Deposit.
Kyrosmagica Publishing
The Hedge Witch And The Musical Poet
https://books2read.com/u/mv1OeV
Mr. Sagittarius Poetry and Prose
http://mybook.to/MrSagittarius
Anthology – This Is Lockdown, (poetry, diaries and flash fiction – kindle)
http://mybook.to/Thisislockdown
Poetry during Lockdown – Lockdown Innit
http://mybook.to/Lockdowninnit
Poetry also features in my highly acclaimed YA Fantasy series. Each chapter begins with a short poem. The Curse of Time Book 1 Bloodstone and Book 2 Golden Healer are published by Next Chapter Publishing.
https://www.nextchapter.pub/books/bloodstone
https://www.nextchapter.pub/books/golden-healer
https://www.nextchapter.pub/authors/mj-mallon
About M.J. Mallon
M J Mallon was born in Lion city Singapore, a passionate Scorpio with the Chinese Zodiac sign of a lucky rabbit. She spent her early childhood in Hong Kong. During her teen years, she returned to her father’s childhood home, Edinburgh where she spent many happy years, entertained and enthralled by her parents’ vivid stories of living and working abroad. Perhaps it was during these formative years that her love of storytelling began bolstered by these vivid raconteurs. She counts herself lucky to have travelled to many far-flung destinations and this early wanderlust has fuelled her present desire to emigrate abroad. Until that wondrous moment, it’s rumoured that she lives sometimes in the UK, and often times in Portugal.. Her two enchanting daughters have flown the nest but often return with a cheery smile to greet her.
Her motto is to always do what you love, stay true to your heart’s desires, and inspire others to do so too.
November 20, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: Greek roast lamb
I am not the biggest fan of roast lamb, but I have eaten Greek roast lamb a few times and enjoyed it very much. The descriptions of Greek roast lamb in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, which I read earlier this year, are also scrumptious.
This is my adapted version of a few recipes for Greek roast lamb.
Ingredients2 kg leg of lamb
Garlic flakes
Salt and pepper
Paprika – a generous quantity
7,5 ml dried Rosemary
7,5 ml dried thyme
15 ml dried oregano
3 dried bay leaves
2 red onions cut into slices
1 1/2 cups white wine
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cups chicken stock
Hot water
Olive oil
MethodPre-heat the oven to 210 degrees Celsius. Cut approximately 25 cuts into the leg of lamb on both the front and the back. Push a few garlic flakes into each cut. Cover the lamb with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and a thick coating of paprika.
Roast uncovered in a casserole dish for 30 minutes with the top facing upwards.
Remove the roast from the oven and turn the temperature down to 180 degrees Celsius. Mix the onion slices, rosemary, thyme, oregano and bay leaves in a bowl and add the white wine and lemon juice. Pour the mixture over the lamb. Add the chicken stock and top up with warm water so the fluid reaches 1/3 of the way up the leg of lamb. Return to the oven, covered with the lid and bottom side up for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the casserole dish from the oven and turn over the meat. If the level of the fluid has dropped significantly, top it up again. Cover with the lid and return to the oven for another 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid from the caserole and turn the oven up to 200 degrees Celsius. Roast for a further 20 minutes. Allow to rest for 30 to 40 minutes before carving.
Serve with roast potatoes, vegetables of your choice and serve the remaining sauce as gravy.
The Christmas Bird, a micro-read for childrenI have managed to publish my first booklet on Kindle Unlimited. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I wrote a short story of approximately 5,600 words called The Christmas Bird for this purpose. If you are interested in reading an old fashioned short Christmas story, you will find it here: Amazon US
Creative dynamo, Teagan Riordain Geneviene, designed the cover for me. Isn’t it amazing? Teagan also wrote a lovely post about The Christmas Bird which you can read here: https://teagansbooks.com/2022/11/17/new-micro-read-from-robbie-cheadle/
November 16, 2022
Treasuring Poetry – Meet poet and writer Penny Wilson #poetry #poetrycommunity #treasuringpoetry
Today I am delighted to welcome poet and writer, Penny Wilson, as my Treasuring Poetry guest. Thanks for hosting, Kaye Lynne Booth
Which of your own poems is your favourite?Trying to choose a favorite poem of my own, is like trying to choose a favorite child! Writing is an incredibly personal thing and our creations become our “babies”. Looking back through poems that I’ve written in the past, I will come across one that really strikes me as being exceptional. I’m often surprised by what I find on these journeys of reminiscing.
But to answer your question, today, right now, I think my favorite poem is called Poetry Of My Heart .
The poetry of my heart
spills onto the page
in blue ink
and fervent sighs
The poetry of my heart
is written on the wings
of dreams
and nights
of longing
The poetry of my heart
negate shadows of terrors
not voiced
The poetry of my heart
stands tall
against this world
What inspired you to write this poem?View original post 742 more words
November 14, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – Do you like insects? #insects #bookquotes
I am fascinated by insects and like to study them and take pictures of them. Lots of people don’t like insects, especially spiders.
Two years ago, I discovered a spider ball nest behind a wooden plank against the wall. I was very delighted by the spider ball and inspected it daily to see how the babies were getting on. I also kept it hidden from hubby who would have attacked it with the insect spray.
In due course, the hundreds of babies hatched and floated away on strings of web. A few found their way into my house and two took up residence in the bed. Hubby discovered these ones, and a few others creeping about and made short work of them. He was a little suspicious about how they came to be in the house, but that’s my secret [smile].
Later that same summer, I discovered another spider nest. Mom was lurking nearby, protecting her babies. I also hid this one [hides face in hands while shoulders shake with secret laughter].
When I was in KwaZulu Natal, I took pictures of a rather large and fascinating caterpillar.
“I think you’re wonderful,’ James told her. ‘Can I ask you one special question?’
‘Please do.’
‘Well, is it really true that I can tell how old a Ladybird is by counting her spots?’
‘Oh no, that’s just a children’s story,’ the Ladybird said. ‘We never change our spots. Some of us, of course, are born with more spots than others, but we never change them. The number of spots that a Ladybird has is simply a way of showing which branch of the family she belongs to.”
― Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach
“But what about you, Miss Spider?’ asked James. ‘Aren’t you also much loved in the world?’
‘Alas, no,’ Miss Spider answered, sighing long and loud. ‘I am not loved at all. And yet I do nothing but good. All day long I catch flies and mosquitoes in my webs. I am a decent person.’
‘I know you are,’ said James.
‘It is very unfair the way we Spiders are treated,’ Miss Spider went on. ‘Why, only last week your own horrible Aunt Sponge flushed my poor dear father down the plug-hole in the bathtub.’
‘Oh, how awful!’ cried James.
‘I watched the whole thing from a corner up in the ceiling,’ Miss Spider murmured. ‘It was ghastly. We never saw him again.’ A large tear rolled down her cheek and fell with a splash on the floor.”
― Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach
So tell me, have you ever hidden a spider’s nest from your partner and children? Let me know in the comments?
November 11, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – Book review: War poetry, Sheep on the Somme: A World War I Picture and Poetry Book by Frank Prem
In honour of Remembrance Day, I am sharing my review of this incredible book of poetry by Frank Prem about WW1.
What Amazon saysIn this Picture Poetry collection, journey with the AIF, the ANZACS and the German and French armies at war on the Western Front during the Great War of 1914 – 1918.
Have your photo taken in a studio in Cairo, and your heart broken on a small street in Ballarat.
The bombs are falling in an endless fusillade of artillery fire from both sides of the conflict, turning the Somme into a clagging stew of slurried mud and maddened men.
Frank Prem has taken images of men at war and created verse stories to accompany them and to tell you that this war is hell.
Welcome. Welcome to the Somme.
My reviewI am endlessly fascinated by war books and war poetry, especially about WW1 which seems to have been one of the most dreadful and destructive of all human conflicts I know about. The idea of millions of young men, the age of my oldest son, and maybe even my younger son, living in the squalor and horror of the trenches with death all around them is overwhelmingly dreadful. I keep wondering how the world ended up embroiled in the dead end and destructive war that continued for four years and destroyed the lives of an entire generation, male and female.
Frank Prem’s book is a beautiful and graphic tribute to all those brave men and women who gave their lives for their countries between 1914 and 1918. The poet has taken a selection of black and white photographs from the war archives and matched them to well chosen and vivid words about life and death during this time.
All the poems in this collection are powerful and worthy, but these two extracts are from the ones that have remained in my thoughts and heart:
“hush
be quiet now
don’t…
do not speak
a word
if we
lay still
enough
they may not
see us
hear us
they many not
find us
oh
let them leave us
I have had
enough”
from Hush
“and I
who wish
only
to sleep
I who would
the darkness
pray
take him
take him to
some other place
take him away
am doomed
to watch
the night at play
doomed to hear
the whistling
song
to sing it
like a mantra playing
oh god”
From another night (like this)
I purchased a paperback version of this book because I regard it as a collectors item along with my poetry collections by Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, and Rupert Brooke.
Purchase Sheep on the Somme: A World War I Picture and Poetry Book
