Summer / Autumn 2011
Sunlight makes the beech hedge glow,
so too the bulbous, pink tulips below
the kitchen window at which we
spread apricot jam from a shining jar
onto buttered brown toast. The kitchen is host
to May light, spick and span on spoon and pan.
I try the tea. It is hot but sugarless,
unsatisfactory, and I recall
my grandfather's refrain down the hall
if his was unsweetened by sugar
or, in later years, Splenda -
you did not have to be in the same room
to see him eyeing his cup with a feigned frown -
'Has the sugar boat gone down?'
[Splendour]
My debut collection, The Coming-Down Time, was published by Shoestring Press in June 2020. A website for the book - including recordings of me reading poems from it and links to where you can buy it - can be found at thecomingdowntime.co.uk.
The collection has so far been reviewed by Agenda, Ambit, Caught by the River, The Friday Poem, The High Window, the Los Angeles Review of Books, London Grip, The Manchester Review, PN Review, Poetry London, Review 31, and The Scores.
I greatly enjoyed reading with Olga Dermott-Bond and being in conversation with Olga and Jonathan Davidson at Ledbury Poetry Festival on 11th July. I'll be reading at the Hastings Bookshop Poetry Festival on 14th August. Details here.
Click through for more news here.
Very excited that today is publication day for 'The Coming-Down Time'. In lieu of a launch there's some recordings of me reading poems at https://t.co/HrxF8HEs1P. Good place to order is @blackwellbooks here: https://t.co/vSPuQaHeow pic.twitter.com/XtWbhZgaWi
— Robert Selby (@RESelby) June 25, 2020
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[2021-07-30]