"Kelpdings" by Paul Maddern (Templar Poetry, 2009)

A pamphlet of poems by Iota, Poetry Ireland Review, The Shop, etc. Several (most?) of these poems later appeared in "The Beachcomber's Report". Looking back at my write-up of that book, I see that I commented then on what I still feel now - I think most of the pages include something interesting, but the variety of layout is distracting, making the reader think that there's more variety than is the case. I think some poems (e.g. "Of the vein") are beyond me.

• I like "The Beachcomber's Report"
• "Merrill Abroad" is 4.5 pages - I'm not convinced by it.
• "On being told by an Irishman that I overuse 'Oleander" begins with a list a 1/3rd of a page long that fails for me, though the rest of the poem (about cedar) is perhaps my favourite part of the book
• "Lines at Lacken Mill" includes the multi-layer "rain/ drops from the canopy to play the river like a drum/ and I'm absorbed by the performance/ of a wayward beat falling on the page./ The a in apple blossoms and the b/ in beauty blooms, infecting with the bleed/ all well meaning words".
• "Department of Human Tissue" includes "Look at our website regarding body donation. We went live last Friday"