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Indigo Dreams Publishing, 68pp, £7.25, ISBN 978-1-907401-09-1
Available from Bookshop at www.indigodreamsonline.com or this
address.

                  White, elliptical slices of light
                  surround a scrubland roundabout
                  where imagined Crescents, Groves
                  crouch, in the architects mind.
                  Estates That Stay Unbuilt

The poetry of Ormskirk-based, prize-winning poet, Will Daunt is, I must
confess, completely new to me, though within the constant interplay of
literary association throughout our empathetic small press poetry world it
would seem almost inevitable that some degree of closer acquaintance
would eventually transpire. Certainly, Will's style of writing and unusual
mode of approach leave the reader with nothing short of a sustained
curiosity, somewhat bordering on mystification, and prompting one to
delve even deeper into the half-hidden recesses of this gifted writer's train
of thought. Like many fellow-poets, Will is very much influenced and
possessed by the passage of Time and, in consequence, the transitory
nature of all within his living scope :

                 One day when you and I will be well past walking
                 even a road as good as this, with forests gummed
                 to the crumbling verge - - on that day, fifty more routes 
                 across our English dales, moors and plains will be closed.
                 Disused Railways

Life can often be seen to be rather an endless series of farewells, whether
with regard to the sudden departure of a family member, or close friend,
or possibly the signalling of a complete change of circumstance :

                  And you might brake at a terraced home, unable
                  to park, or speak your after-thoughts. But love lived there.
                   Sarum

And isn't it truly amazing how the sight of some familiar discarded object
can often trigger off a whole kaleidoscope of cherished recollections. In
Will's poem 'Sunday Shoes', for instance, a long disused pair of shoes, in
earlier years worn by his daughter, awakens a whole host of memories of
his offspring in their various processes of development through the years;
but the new-found freedom of the ageing parents, as their children have
finally grown up and left home, is tempered with acute regret :

                We should be hard and happier
                and facing freedom with hotter blood, not dismay.
                Sunday Shoes

In several poems, the writer revisits earlier environs, from various
imagined points in time, some years into the future:

               Why are we back? Is it some returning hope, 
               that drags us past pit-bellied sacks of chaff,
               fish yanked from cloudy seas, unlabelled tins,
               and pulses from dry plains where harvest's closed?
               Under Ormskirk Clock Tower, September 2038

There is poignancy too, particularly in his poem 'AN AUTOMATIC
WATCH', telling of the finding of his grandfather’s watch, during the
sadness of a house-clearing at the home of Will’s mother. The title poem
in this collection (‘POWERLESS’) " incidentally, explores the change in
family circumstance (if only temporary) as they are collectively denied
the advantages of electricity in their home, and how the sharing of this
enforced deprivation brings the family closer together. Other poems
cover features as widely varied as the homing instinct of SALMON-
through - RIBBLESDALE, and MUNICH AIRPORT, 1958-2008; though
the tragic fate of that former Manchester United football team is given
only the ghost of a reference in a line of the final verse.

The high points of this worthy collection , some may readily agree, are to
be found in Will's all too few lyrical inclusions, 'BLUE LOBELIA' and
'LANCASHIRE LAVENDER' and his prize-winning villanelle, ‘Some
Boys’, a poem immediately complemented by his other villanelle
inclusion, ‘SOME GIRLS'. The cover photography for this :publication is
simply' stunning, as are a number of the featured poems.

- Watch out for more of the same from this enigmatic, talented writer. 
                                                                                         

(“Daunt's poetry style is immediate and evocative. His poetic
narratives all draw full and complete pictures which will resonate for
many readers”. Jim Bennett, Poetry Kit)