Valerie Bence's latest poetry pamphlet is a testament to ordinary lives, and a meditation on grandmothers. Part memoir, part family history, Overlap is a series of vivid vignettes from the poet's childhood, courtship, motherhood and grandmotherhood, spanning the 20th and 21st centuries.
Winifred and Harriet are at the heart of this book: Bence's grandmothers, whose hardy, steadfast lives she comes to reflect on as she too becomes a grandmother, in very different times. Stranded from her family in the Covid-19 pandemic, the poet conjures up their ghosts, walks in their footsteps and - sometimes - feels herself become them.
> We mash tealeaves and bran for the rabbit,
> the sweet aroma fogging her glasses,
> and every day, for five shillings a week,
> she scrubs bloody butcher's aprons.
> We take the clean ones back on the bus,
> until the day she faints outside Boots in the rain,
> sliding down the wall like in a cartoon,
> her wartime hat slipping over her eyes.
| ISBN: | 9781912915941 |
| Publication date: | 27th January 2022 |
| Author: | Valerie Bence |
| Publisher: | The Emma Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 26 pages |
| Series: | The Emma Press Poetry Pamphlets |
| Genres: |
Poetry by individual poets Maturation and ageing Narrative theme: Love and relationships Family and health |
Valerie Bence's latest poetry pamphlet is a testament to ordinary lives, and a meditation on grandmothers. Part memoir, part family history, Overlap is a series of vivid vignettes from the poet's childhood, courtship, motherhood and grandmotherhood, spanning the 20th and 21st centuries.
Winifred and Harriet are at the heart of this book: Bence's grandmothers, whose hardy, steadfast lives she comes to reflect on as she too becomes a grandmother, in very different times. Stranded from her family in the Covid-19 pandemic, the poet conjures up their ghosts, walks in their footsteps and - sometimes - feels herself become them.
> We mash tealeaves and bran for the rabbit,
> the sweet aroma fogging her glasses,
> and every day, for five shillings a week,
> she scrubs bloody butcher's aprons.
> We take the clean ones back on the bus,
> until the day she faints outside Boots in the rain,
> sliding down the wall like in a cartoon,
> her wartime hat slipping over her eyes.
Overlap features in the following genres: Poetry by individual poets, Maturation and ageing, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Family and health
Overlap is available in Paperback
Overlap was written by Valerie Bence and published by The Emma Press
Overlap has 26 pages
Yes it is part of The Emma Press Poetry Pamphlets series
£5.85