The Hauntings

Read two poems from this book, with commentary, on the Valley Press blog.

Many lives and ideas shape us and our environment. Some forge hope, some threaten our very being, some point to redemption for those who come after. In a love that might sustain us, they can be a manifested present; in their passing, a living prompt to be better.

Such embodiments haunt this poetry collection – where ghosts of lives that reflect the white light of the world rest alongside ghosts of other relationships. These hauntings can inspire us to progress or alert us to the dangers of statecraft – the ravages of war, displacement and exile.

The Hauntings is a passionate response to love and its absence, to a sense of community and place from the Pennines and beyond, and of home, wherever that might be.