'Words do have sound, weight, shape, personality, and each one has a history all its own. You will love Jenny Macaffer for bringing this old truth back home with the very first poem in the book. And from there the words in these poems will probe their way through our usually dulled-by-routine minds to those moments of pleasurable shock when we come upon "a doona of clouds" (Janette Fernando), the "egg tooth" of Cameron Semmens, or bent nails "pointing to the beach" in a poem where we meet "a bumless old bloke" who pushes a vinyl shopping bag (John West), or we inhale "the strident sweetness of new leather" (Peter Stiles).
Yes, these words come home to us and it's like we are having the sweetest cup of Bushells with them in our own kitchen on our own chairs in our own time, talking deeply as if each word is a thing we can savour with awe. Better than biscuits, better than lamingtons on the lips and in the mouth. This book is full of beginnings. And the endings are mostly beginnings too. It is full of the seasons, of birth and death, suffering and small joys, of a Christianity that is rooted in the ordinary lives of ordinary saints, the ones that don't need to be canonized, the ones that know even an unfinished journey can be a miracle. Dip into it, swim through it, step across it, splash yourself with these poems or sip them as you would a steaming cup of the best brew you can find. In the words of Nan Good, let go, go slow, and enjoy yourself in this "good company"' Kevin Brophy (Publisher website).
