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| Candlestick Press 2024 My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet |
Most of us can remember our first kiss, whether it was glorious and transporting or merely awkward. Kissing, it transpires, can happen anywhere – on a train, in a city park or against a kitchen fridge.
The poems dramatise the fact that a kiss can make time stand still or send us into a dizzy spin:
“And the world all whirling
Round in joy
Like the dance of a dervish…”
from ‘Kisses in the Train’ by DH Lawrence
The selection wouldn’t be complete without a sly antidote to all this romance, which is why we’ve included Mary Ruefle’s ‘Why I Am Not A Good Kisser’ with its inventory of things not to do or think about when a kiss is in the offing.
Poems by Kim Addonizio, Marjorie Allen Seiffert, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Burns, William Drummond of Hawthornden, Hattie Grünewald, DH Lawrence, Roddy Lumsden, David Mills, Shazea Quraishi, Mary Ruefle, Roberta Spear, Sara Teasdale and Jean Toomer.
Cover illustration by Sara Boccaccini Meadows
💘My Review..
Fourteen Poems about Kissing is the perfect poetry pamphlet for Valentine's Day as each of the poems share thoughts and feelings which are quite special. I've enjoyed reading the verses from poets who are well known and yet nestled like little gems are those lesser known poets who express, so eloquently, the emotion of kissing in its purest form.
' Your lips two pillows where my dreams rest.
where do conversations end and kisses begin
when syllables and lipstick wear the same breath?..'
From Syllables and Lipstick by David Mills
'Before you kissed me only the winds of Heaven
had kissed me and the tenderness of rain-
Now you have come, how can I care for kisses
Like theirs again?
From The Kiss by Sara Teasdale
The anthology is intimate, perfectly expressed and is a real treasure which captures the romance of Valentine's Day, a special anniversary or even a wedding day, and wraps everything so beautifully in the words of fourteen wonderful poems which stay in the mind, and heart, long after the pamphlet is closed 💘
About the Publisher
Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.
Twitter/X @poetrycandle
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