Three short pamphlets (review)

I am having a renewed loved affair with poetry right now and have been buying up some pamphlets that have been on my list. The following three are all from Happenstance Press and are complete delight.

1. Some Women by David Kinloch is a superb collection of Bible Stories written from the point of view of the women who never get heard. This is brilliant, funny, scathing and contain the odd rude word. The little booklet is split into two. The first half is women from the Old Testament and the second half is from...yes, you got it.... women from the New Testament. We meet Cain's wife (all the things she was before the murder and all the things she is now) Lot's wife in the poem Salt, Rebecca who lived for food, seeing poetry in pita and questions why she is nasty -

but Jacob looked good in jeans/ while Esau was ginger and hairy.

I was pleased to see the story of the Levite's Concubine here. I've always been appalled at this story - the way she is cast out to the men who take a fancy to a young man who is a guest in the house. Instead the poor women is thrust towards them for their pleasure.

I suppose for this collection having a knowledge of Bible stories helps and while I flounder with poems about Greek Gods etc., I'm in my element here. David does a fine job teasing out these normally silent women and putting words into their mouths. I wanted to shout YES in several places. I adore this collection.

I was particularly interested in the stories of Sarah and Lot's wife as I've written poems from their point of view myself. Mine are different but it was lovely to compare our takes on things.

In the second half I found Martha's last line just wrapped things up with that humour I love:

Says, I, well help me resurrect this bucket for the well/ It has a hole in it/ and Lazarus will need a bloody good wash/ when you've finished with him.

This is both thought provoking and different and a collection I shall return to time and time again. Brilliant.

2. Instructions for Making Me by Maria Taylor. This collection is about every day feelings and people - family and friends in different situations. Role Model lists who the narrator does not want to be like such as Thelma and Louise, Julie Andrews, nor a mistress with a dozen married lovers. No, she wants to be like the woman next door with a walk that says I know where I'm going.

Poem in which I Lick Motherhood made me smile, the thought of children with tongues made of soap/ and PVA glue running through their veins is great, as is the line I am fascinated by bunk beds,  head lice and cupcakes. Also Ran is about overhearing a conversation that lets you know just what that person thinks of you.  Then there is the wonderful Hypothetical which is stream of conscious over one question a friend poses - would she sleep with Daniel Craig? A journey from one scenario to the next, getting sillier, but such fun, ensues. Each poem is a gem, as is this pamphlet.

3. The Long Hall by Alan Buckley was my chosen freebie as a subscriber to Happenstance Press. Another excellent pamphlet. Flame is delicious in it's simple lines from a man to his lover. He brings no fireworks, but hey, strike a light from this box of matches and see what happens. Lovely. Loch Ness is an alternative story about the monster and what people are more likely to believe. Clever thinking. Sherbet Lemons took me back to a sweet shop I used to visit as a child - very nostalgic.  Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy looks at David Hockney's painting of the same name, how the viewer sees it, what he likes. It's a painting I know well so I get this. Little Machine is a poignant moment of differences between father and son - the father good under a bonnet with a wrench, the son awkward longing to get back to writing. Then in the last stanza the father reveals something that brings them together.

An enjoyable threesome, these were. Happenstance Press send out sample poetry flyers with orders luring you towards another pamphlet collection. I can see I'll be indulging again!