A collection of 34 poems and 3 pieces of prose reflecting the poet's sensual and intelligent style of treating diverse subjects, including the Persephone sequence dealing with child abuse, many poems having appeared previously in other publications.

Casgliad o 34 cerdd a 3 darn o ryddiaith yn adlewyrchu ymdriniaeth synhwyrus a deallus y bardd o bynciau amrywiol yn cynnwys y gyfres o gerddi Persephone yn delio gyda cham-drin plentyn; mae nifer o'r cerddi eisoes wedi ymddangos mewn cyhoeddiadau eraill.

This varied collection of poems and prose poems reveals Hilary Llewellyn-Williams’s sensitivity to the 'inscape', the otherness, of life around her. 'The Blessing', for example, describes a house at dawn, its stirrings as it comes into its own, entering the narrator’s awakening consciousness:

... a creak
on the stairs, a murmur

of water in the plumbing
and a feathery sound
from the dust, a shuffle of quills.

There is a sense of epiphany too – the way in which the natural world especially can surprise in a sudden appearance; not a union exactly, but a recognition, as in the fine prose poem 'The Visit', where on a stormy day a squirrel suddenly appears at the glass panel of a door:

'Her face is oval as a nut, her eyes pinpoint a question. Her tail is held like a plumed umbrella; her belly sports pale fur like an apron. The small splayed fingers rat-a-tat – is she asking to come in, or simply attracting my attention?'

Time and again this otherness is established by the poet’s eye and ear for sensuous detail. A river in flood 'glides like heavy silk' ('Hawthorn'); a whole prose poem, 'A Study in Grooming', is devoted to a detailed description of her cat cleaning itself on the poet’s lap, the detail creating a vivid sense of the centredness of another living being.

The interaction of the human with the natural world takes a violent turn in 'The Voices', a brilliant poem about jackdaws – where the poet becomes involved directly, bludgeoning an injured bird to death. The killing, because unexpected, is powerful and horrific.

Another poem that deals, indirectly, with violence, is the three-part 'My Father Swimming' which recounts her father’s obsession with the sea after surviving shipwreck in the Second World War, because he was convinced the sea had saved him when so many others had drowned. The daughter is fascinated by this but has her own fear of the sea’s power to contend with. It is a deeply humane poem about human survival, its costs, and a daughter’s observant love.

In a short review there is only space to hint at the richness of this collection by one of the best poets currently writing in English in Wales.

John Barnie

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgement should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.