Poetry Basket Review

Dobby! Get out of that Poetry Basket! 

Hello Poetry Lovers

Welcome back to the Poetry Basket Review section.

Today we have a cracking new collection from prolific poet Tony Josolyne.

A regular reader at Poetry Performance in Tedddington, we eagerly awaited this new and varied collection. And Tony did not disappoint. I’ve given Recalcitrant Verse a well-deserved hot review. (Dobby does not approve of the cover!) 

Read on….

Recalcitrant Verse

by Tony Josolyne 

A very apt title for this vibrant collection, with the subtitle nothing is quite what it seems.  What very true words as we open up to a moving foreword written by Poetry Performance founder Anne Warrington. Followed by a concise preface by the the poet Tony Josolyne.  We are then presented with a wealth of significant subheadings, that present humorous, poignant and thought provoking pieces. 

Under the heading of Human Behaviour, the poet gives us a childhood memory in Grandfather’s Beard and a wartime one in Wallasey 1941 under the Warfare section.  This chapter includes an idiom of Sir Frances Drake’s exchange with Queen Bess in Drakes Pride, with fascinating detail. 

The sub headed sections, such as Insurance, carry very relevant issues and sadly, every day hazards such as in Travel Insurance.  Through the frustration, there is still a bleak and ironic humour.  The clever skit on Wordsworth in Food for Thought is irresistible, and when we encounter The Law, there is more dark wit in Reasonable Force. 

Under the Faith and Belief heading, we are drawn into The Youngest Sailor. A fascinating account of how baby Moses was adopted, a modernised version of the Old Testament story.  The Show Business chapter is a personal favourite with the hilarious CCTV concerning an outraged actor, and The Casting Couch, a reflection of changing times and power shifts. 

There is a wealth of poetic variation under Miscellaneous, the wonderful Excuses jumps out at the reader.  A very human situation indeed. 

Climate is a very fitting section to end this intriguing collection, particularly A Climate Crisis, reminding us of the devastating bush fires in the Adelaide Hills of Australia in 2019/20. Chilling the reader at how easy it is to forget these terrible incidents.  

A succinct collection, and one to be read again and again.  

Thanks for reading the review, PL’s. And for a real treat, get yourself a copy of Recalcitrant Verse. Contact me for any orders…..