Dannie and Joan Abse had been married for more than fifty years when she was killed in a car crash in 2005. After her death he wrote his extraordinary memoir of loss, The Presence, which was the Wales Book of the Year in 2008.
In contrast, much of this new collection is a delightful celebration. In it Dannie Abse returns to their marriage through all its seasons, and celebrates love in verse which is funny, tender and playful as well as serious and passionate. Almost half the poems appear in this form for the first time.
'One for sorrow, two for joy' is the old country saw about the magpie. These poems reflect its truth, and in the process transfigure ordinary life and love into something rich and strange.
- ISBN10 1786331012
- ISBN13 9781786331014
- Publish Date 29 May 2017 (first published 4 February 2010)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 19 March 2024
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Cornerstone
- Imprint Hutchinson
- Format Paperback
- Pages 80
- Language English