Poeticus Pictoralis III: Joy, Sadness & In-between (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781836152125)

Poeticus Pictoralis III is the third book in the series and sadly, likely to be the last. The sub-title Joy, Sadness and In-between, appropriately covers the whole range of life experiences and allows me to add some continuity to the three pillars of this book. Each poem is relatively short (most occupy only a single page) and cover subjects as varied as a Snail trying to cross the pavement, to a Seagull taking a rest on an abandoned rowing boat. From a Dog dressed as an 19th century gentleman with designs to marry well, to a tree stump which has become a bowl in which a biological stew has developed. From a Fly eating my dinner, to a Blue-Tit piercing the foil top of an old-fashioned pint-bottle of milk. From an old Monk now regretting his life of abstinence, to a Psychopathic Shark. This book should be read on a poem a day basis and will last for several months.

The other feature of note, is that there are many pictures in the book. They are all original works of art by painters of great talent (some known and others unsigned), but what they have in common is that my wife, Angie and I have purchased them all at car boot sales and antique emporiums in Bournemouth and Poole (the best emporium being "The Den" BH11 8NX). I have tried where possible to match picture and poem for maximum effect.

The last few pages of the book are given over to an "In memoriam" wherein a tribute is paid to a brave woman name Kate, the daughter of Andrew and Sue Baldwin, whom I met "on the trail" and who commissioned me to write a poem in memory of Kate, which would serve both to comfort them and to help Kate's daughter Sophia to preserve some sense of her mum, as Sophia was only seven at the time.