“Olds writes “poetry more faithful to the felt truth of reality than any prose could be.” – Richard Wakefield.

'here I am, on the edge of animation, / a dream, a dance, a fantastic construction'. Moniza Alvi

Not every man has gentians in his house in Soft September, at slow, Sad Michaelmas. - D.H. Lawrence 'Bavarian Gentians'

And I could see that child's one eye which seemed to laugh, and say with glee: 'what caused my death you'll never know, perhaps my mother murdered me.' - W.H. Davies - 'The Inquest'

The sum of things to be known is inexhaustible, and however long we read, we shall never come to the end of our story-book.

The most remarkable phenomenon of the English poetic scene ... has been the advent, or perhaps I should say the irruption, of Gavin Ewart - Philip Larkin.

The Laureate of Gloucestershire

Sitting around an old table/they drew lines across the map/dividing the place/I would call my country. Choman Hardi 'Lausanne, 1923'

In these times, we should be glad of this voice. - Kate Clanchy, The Guardian