The Customs House by Andrew Motion has been on my TBR pile for the past few months. I keep being drawn back to this collection of poetry, written partly inspired by soldiers' experiences from 1914, his father's own experiences of D-Day and then much later on, inspired by marriage.
Andrew depicts landscapes and topographies which are wrapped up in the intimate memories of marriages. The rolling waves born from Antartica, crashing against the East Coast, the crowded streets of Brooklyn, and significant Waterloo Village.
Montauk is by far my favourite poem from the collection. It traces the lives of waves formed in Antartica, across the oceans to be stopped by the shoreline that he sits on with his wife. The rolling motion bringing him back to a contented day watching the breakers.
I don't spend enough time on poetry, often racing through fiction titles, pulled along by a heady pace and edgy characters. But there is something quite calming about reading poetry on a packed carriage. You can read several between stops, or go over one a few times to find the rhythm or secondary meanings. And still feel like your brain has had some nourishment, which aside from the heavy dose of morning caffeine can only ever be a good thing!
Andrew depicts landscapes and topographies which are wrapped up in the intimate memories of marriages. The rolling waves born from Antartica, crashing against the East Coast, the crowded streets of Brooklyn, and significant Waterloo Village.
Montauk is by far my favourite poem from the collection. It traces the lives of waves formed in Antartica, across the oceans to be stopped by the shoreline that he sits on with his wife. The rolling motion bringing him back to a contented day watching the breakers.
I don't spend enough time on poetry, often racing through fiction titles, pulled along by a heady pace and edgy characters. But there is something quite calming about reading poetry on a packed carriage. You can read several between stops, or go over one a few times to find the rhythm or secondary meanings. And still feel like your brain has had some nourishment, which aside from the heavy dose of morning caffeine can only ever be a good thing!
