Reviews
Autumn Beguiles the Fatalist by Michael Foley
ISBN 0 85640 772 0
This is a weighty collection which needs to be savoured with indulgence. Only then can the languid elegance of the poetry be truly appreciated. Foley is a clever and witty writer who is also more than capable of delivering lines of startling acuity: ‘And moths of course prefer it to the fire-feigning moon/…or, rather they would if we let them in./ The strong double glazing keeps night things out./Though now and then a shadow lurch turns us that way./ Familiar train of ragged shapes… the stars once more veiled./Like the moths, meanings hover near and brush our sealed panes.’ These poems tap-dance through a complicated world, catapulting the reader into a hedonistic mix of tumbling colour, insects, Flaubert and God. Autumn Beguiles the Fatalist is a profoundly accomplished collection, and Foley deserves serious attention.
Blackstaff Press, 4C Heron Warf, Sydenham Business Park,
Belfast BT3 9LE £7.99
This is a weighty collection which needs to be savoured with indulgence. Only then can the languid elegance of the poetry be truly appreciated. Foley is a clever and witty writer who is also more than capable of delivering lines of startling acuity: ‘And moths of course prefer it to the fire-feigning moon/…or, rather they would if we let them in./ The strong double glazing keeps night things out./Though now and then a shadow lurch turns us that way./ Familiar train of ragged shapes… the stars once more veiled./Like the moths, meanings hover near and brush our sealed panes.’ These poems tap-dance through a complicated world, catapulting the reader into a hedonistic mix of tumbling colour, insects, Flaubert and God. Autumn Beguiles the Fatalist is a profoundly accomplished collection, and Foley deserves serious attention.
Blackstaff Press, 4C Heron Warf, Sydenham Business Park,
Belfast BT3 9LE £7.99
Page(s) 28-29
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