In the Key of Blue (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781787195455)

Richard Lawson is a retired GP, Green thinker and activist who lives in the Mendips.

In the Key of Blue covers an unusually wide range of subjects and of forms. Influences range from the Metaphysicals, especially Donne, Vaughan and Herbert, to Browning via Eliot and Pound to contemporary poets at open mic sessions in the West Country. Philosphical and meditative pieces rub shoulders with performance poems, humour and satire. Time is a frequent theme, sometimes presenting in ways that cheat its usual constraints, and consciousness of uncheatable death is never far from the surface. The author was a general practitioner and psychiatrist in a Somerset village, so occasional doctorly observations pop up. A lifetime of political and environmental activism is expressed in deeply felt responses to news and images of war and oppression.

This collection will reward those who like their poetry chewy and thought-provoking.