The Hierarchy of Sheep by John Kinsella

The Hierarchy of Sheep

John Kinsella

Fascinating, evocative poems depicting the landscape of the Australian bush and a nostalgia for the English fens. A lyrical fusion of earth and sky to spike the ear and reward the inner eye. I don't want to borrow this collection, I want to own it.

Extract

Shoes once shod in a blacksmith's shop
rust on hooves lying on the rough edge
of a paddock, horse skeletons
mingle with broken hoppers and elevators
& the iron-ringed wheels of surface strippers
sprouted grain thick on the
ground, like chemically stimulated hair.

from Shoes once shod in a blacksmith's shop

Parallels
  • Elmet by Ted Hughes
  • The Silo by John Kinsella