Poetry for Men by The Expiring Mind: book review

Poetry for Men: Poems across three continents (2018) is a collection of about 50 poems.

The anthology starts with ‘Buttons, buttons’ and already I was hooked, remembering a much-loved and long-held activity. Other favourites are: ‘Not Sad’ – ‘Sure Kid’ – ‘The Masterpiece’ – ‘Now Think’ – and ‘Failure.’

The poems are about a journey, from England to Australia as a child, and the transition to adulthood in Australia and America – chronologically. It is mostly reminiscent of a long-ago childhood, in good times and in hard times: ‘All immigrants/But all belong.’ It’s about the country and the coast, health and hearth, children and family, and getting older.

The purpose of writing is cathartic: ‘What I write has been to the/Benefit of the writer/To exorcise demons you know/But I hope they struck/A chord or two.’

The poems may strike a chord or two. Poetry for Men is for anyone interested in simple honesty.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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