Dirt Rich by Graeme Richardson
Carcanet Press
In Dirt Rich, Graeme Richardson digs deep into his past, from a childhood in the Nottinghamshire coalfield, to the hatch/match/dispatch duties of a Church of England priest, to work in an Archaeology Department in Germany.
These are grounded, earthy poems - Born in a mess, we die in a mess“ and here is the dirt we dish, the mud we sling, the treasure we bury. Love and loss are treated with humour and startling frankness. Here are life's trade-offs "do we choose love or knowledge, faith or the void, time or eternity? Move on or hoard what you have, you can't do both, and each will bring a different sort of grief: Why do I wish away / time I want to stand still?"
But in coalmines and churchyards and fossil-hunting digs, the hope of resurrection persists. As a well-known poetry critic, Richardson has always championed poetry of intensity and music. These are poems of personality and beauty, to be learnt by heart and taken to heart.
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