Cyclone

by Robert Peake

Robert Peake’s second full collection of poems is about weathering storms—personal, political, psychological—in our present-day climate of chaos. These are matters of life or death, and Cyclone urges us to consider what the ill wind may bring, and how we will survive it.

Peake’s acutely tuned poems bring eloquence and urgency to matters of profound devastation. With shattering delicacy, he writes of personal loss, of grief and the long aftermath; “whenever the wind sprays into my face, I taste salt of your absence”.

These poems also hazard an eye at the global weather and find a world in turmoil, wild with unreliable news and terrible forecasts. Manifesting between the storms is the man with the kindest face. Is he here to save us or warn us? A guide or a harbinger? As these brilliantly-visioned poems suggest, nothing is certain in the eye of the storm. Nevertheless, there is some form of consolation and rescue: “He seems at home in this tempest. He seems happy”.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2018

About the author

Robert Peake is a British-American poet living near London. His new full-length collection Cyclone is available from Nine Arches Press. His previous collections are The Knowledge (Nine Arches Press, 2015), The Silence Teacher (Poetry Salzburg, 2013), and Human Shade (Lost Horse Press, 2011, part of New Poets, Short Books, Volume V).