The Holy Family and other Poems
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The approach here is one of quiet
authority, and Gerard Rochford
has adopted a refreshing, humane,
suspension of belief. The Holy Family consists of 12 poems, each
blazing like an apostle. If the poems take liberties, then only for
the benefit of ‘today’, e.g. a sense of realism implied at the
authenticity of the Turin Shroud. The ‘other Poems’ are a blend of
faith, loss of faith, joy and matter of fact, from Nietzsche’s God is
Dead to the Viking King of Kief, from the city of Jaipur to the wonder
of a child. As the closing poem suggests, one may feel having
“journeyed home like Magi from a birth.”
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Sample Poem
Memento mori
We use a priest
to lever us into and out of our lives.
He comes in black,
so our bright day is ever touched with shadow.
He wears the cloth,
though we may be peacocked, showered with colour.
In his coat
he walks the festivalled terrace of our time.
We welcome him,
intruder with white comfort and the knowledge.
Throw open the door;
he is dressed in cloud and our jewels falter.
Standing on black ice,
he is a shade, loitering in the darkness.
Bring out your gold;
let the priest sing as our mouths are choked with earth. |
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Bio: Gerard Rochford is a widely published poet living
in Aberdeen. He has appeared in Lines Review, Poetry Scotland, Nomad,
Cutting Teeth, Pushing Out the Boat, Northwords Now, and many other
magazines. A featured poet on the American web site ‘poetsagainstthewar’.
He has a collection Three-way Street, with Douglas W. Gray and
Eddie Gibbons. A founder member of Dead Good Poets, he convenes
their monthly poetry readings in Books and Beans cafe/bookshop,
Aberdeen. His latest collection is The Holy Family and Other
Poems, a meditation on belief and disbelief. He has a poem in
the 20 Best Scottish Poems 2006, selected by Janice Galloway on
behalf of the Scottish Poetry Library.
Links:
www.spl.org.uk
www.deadgoodpoets.co.uk
www.wordfringe.co.uk |
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