Keep All the Parts, by Roy Young
Roy Young is a scientist, poet, artist and this collection of poems reflects the beauty he finds in landscape, wildlife, the sea. He pays special attention to his more immediate, ordinary surroundings. There’s plenty to admire here – my own favourites are ‘What trees do’, ‘Ocean song’, ‘Map of you’, ‘Forest engineers’, ‘Gaia’s song’. These quiet poems allow Nature the space to almost speak for itself.
Acorns have ideas
of trees inside them
and dreams of forest…
(Forest engineers)
Despite some apparently ominous titles (‘Extinction Stories’, ‘The assassin’, ‘Not in my back yard’, and ‘Erosion’), Keep all the parts sings with awe and respect for the natural world to highlight concern for the environment. These stories are delivered without sentimentality, but with such heart that after the final poem, which is almost an incantation, we are left with a sense of hope for our planet and our own human nature.
May we touch ice and need it.
May we feel heat and read it.
May we see change and heed it.
(Gaia’s song)
Julie Burke
Available from Five Leaves at
fiveleaves.co.uk/product/keep-all-the-parts/
fiveleaves.co.uk/product/keep-all-the-parts/Part of the Five Leaves New Poetry series