A new collection of thirty-five poems about things made of wood.
Simon Haines has written a charming, themed book on the everyday qualities of wood – a typically subtle and fruitful idea from this poet which works so well, bringing attention to something easily overlooked – fun and life-enhancing – it could be called Treen Poetry, as the wood is worked and crafted to great effect.
Adrian May.
THIS IS NOT A BAGUETTE
Why do you have that stale baguette
nailed to your kitchen door?
Could it be a reminder, now that you’re rich,
of the days when you were poor,
and lived on stale bread and cheap red wine
and dreamed of earning more?
I’m sorry to have to tell you
that it’s not a stale baguette;
it’s a piece of rounded driftwood
that no-one ever ate.
Let’s say it’s a sort of homage
to that joker Rene Magritte
who painted a pipe that wasn’t a pipe
and shoes that were actually feet.