Poetic Licence is an exuberant and bubbling brew of poetry showcasing the breadth of writers in Greater Manchester. Here they are brought together by this Commonword anthology. The work celebrates the many pleasures of poetry from the serious and intense to the playful and humorous. Entertaining and thought-provoking, these poems will delight and surprise you. Anne Paley looks forward to gender equality. Sally Neaser is in denial about being a drinker’s daughter. Patrick Elly knows the sufferers feel it. And Tommy Barclay examines the fragility of heterosexual male masculinity:
Staying In
Your talk was bluff, everyday stuff.
The little shackles of marriage
Were rattled with that semi-whine
Of rueful complacency,
The identifying accent
Of the married man.
I made the appropriate noises
In the small spaces provided,
All the while wondering
Whether your wife had a name.
Titles she appeared to have in plenty —
Cook, Laundress, Housekeeper,
Mistress, Nanny, Mother —
But no name.
“Typical…” I was thinking,
Then he walked by.
Young, lusty, long-legged,
Unaware of his earthy potency.
Your voice wavered,
Then regained its strength.
But fleetingly, longingly,
Naked at the window of your eyes,
Your soul looked out from its prison.
Tommy Barclay
Featured writers:
SuAndiTommy BarclayGary BoswellPD CooksonTony DobsonKevin DoylePatrick EllyTony DobsonKevin DoyleKevin FeganIvor FrankellPhil HatfieldGillian HealeyKatherine HolmgreenKatherine HolmgreenPaul KingJan MaloneyJohn MarshallGail McGarvaOlivia MichaelSally NeaserMichael NolanHenry NormalCatherine OgdenAnne PaleyMatthew PleschDarren PoyzerRon ReobhawMarc RichardsSammy StatLemn SissaySteve WalingAlex WarnerDi Williams (d. 2015)
