Of Mutability

Jo Shapcott

As the title suggests, all the poems are concerned with change in all its manifestations and inevitably with decay. However this is not a sad collection but moving and occasionally amusing. Easily accessible to novice poetry readers. This collection was the winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award 2010 and I strongly recommend it.

Extract

Auntie stands by the kettle, looking at the kettle
and says, help me, help me, where is the kettle?
I say, little auntie, the curlicues and hopscotch grids
unfurling in your brain have hidden it from you. Let me
make you a cup of tea. She says ah ha! but I do
my crossword, don't I, OK not the difficult one, the one
with the wasname? Cryptic clues. Not that. I say,
auntie, little auntie , we were never cryptic
so let's not start now

Parallels