Lent
Lent
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Publisher: Wild Goose Publications
ISBN: 9781804323748
Number of Pages: 96
Published: 21/02/2025
Width: 14 cm
Height: 20 cm
In this compelling collection of poems, Martyn Halsall embraces the Lenten season not just as a Christian observance but as a state of being – one of wilderness, waiting and transformation. His poetry resists straightforward answers, instead inviting readers into a space of stillness and questioning, where meanings shift and possibilities unfold.
From personal memories to historical and contemporary struggles, Halsall’s work moves through exile, pilgrimage and alienation, always attuned to the unexpected and the peripheral. His poems do not assert but explore, asking, ‘What if?’ and answering, ‘Yes, but …’ – offering both reflection and reappraisal.
With a journalist’s eye and a poet’s heart, Martyn Halsall crafts a collection that is both a passport and a signpost, guiding readers through Lent’s deeper resonances. Life itself, he suggests, is something we are lent – a gift, a process, a question still unfolding.
Contents
Introduction 9
1. Memoir
Electric Blue 14
The Greatcoat 15
History 16
Moon 17
Spade 18
Class 19
Breaking News 20
Carvers’ Marks 21
Interior Landscape 22
Free 24
Texts 25
Single 27
The Japanese Department 28
Haiku 29
Meeting Place 31
Whaup 32
Wedding Day 34
Magnolia Shadows 35
Safe Home 36
Early Closing 37
Solstice 38
2. Lent
Driving to Lent 42
Lent 42
North 43
The Rock Dove 43
Spirit Level 44
Prayer 44
Correspondences 45
TV Times 45
Reflection 46
Scree 46
The Ghost Door 47
Shutters 47
Lancet Windows 48
Lights 48
Gift 49
Present 49
South 50
West to East 50
Warning 51
Indoor Weather 51
Painting Weather 52
Revisiting Rembrandt 52
Air 53
Collie 53
Search 54
Temple 54
Child 55
Sleepers 55
Waving at Trains 56
The Film-maker 56
Legacies 57
Recycling 57
Follower 58
After 58
Poorly 59
Broken 59
Grief (Gaza) 60
Answering the Shoah 60
Woodwork 61
Gold 61
3. Lament
Walking Distance 64
Tracing Rembrant 65
Self-portrait with Maulstick, Palette and Brushes 67
Pictures 68
Ammonite 69
Antler 70
Ruin 72
Clearances 73
Loch 75
Trod 76
Gap 78
Sapling 79
No-one 80
RS Thomas on Bardsey 82
Bird Book 83
Reunion 84
Personal 85
Wreaths 86
The Haunting 87
Staff 88
Walking Home 89
Requiem 90
Notes 92
About the author 94
