The Birth Revolution by Simon Jackson is published by The Rose Garden Press.
"An impressive and beautiful collection of finely-wrought poetry charting the wonder, pain, anxiety, humour and utter joy of the early journey of fathering," Berlie Doherty, twice winner of the Carnegie Medal, 1986 and 1991, and the Writers Guild of Great Britain Award 1992 and 1997.
"In these direct, skilful and moving poems, Simon Jackson does the near impossible, conjuring up the trinity of love, despair and exhaustion that is parenting. At the centre of the story he puts the mother's visceral experience, as any sane father does. Recommended for old parents who want to recall their experiences, and new parents who want to feel less lonely, and soon-to-be parents who need to prepare for what is about to hit them," Mike Stocks, winner of the Goss First Novel Award for White Man Falling.
‘Before cards, toys, babygrows, nappy cream, prams or blankets, you should buy this tender, thought-provoking collection for anyone who is expecting, has children or was ever a child. Humane, life-affirming and full of joy and wonder, this is a collection the world needs right now,” Tom Brodie, British Council.
Amazon 5 STAR customer review:
Isobel Rufus-Henry - Poems that ring true, recalling memories and emotions
The Birth Revolution is by Simon Jackson.
Part I, The Birth Revolution, gives its name to the whole collection and is the dominant section. It’s about conception, pregnancy and birth. It is very powerful. Not a word is wasted. Broken Water, a sonnet, tells you all you need to know about the final stages of labour in fourteen lines.
Jackson uses humour, wonder, fear and also manages to convey the contradictory feelings of expectation and tedium in late pregnancy:
Your pendulous walk ticking off the days
And drawing stares and smiles that tell
You can no longer pass as one of the girls;
Not yet a mother.
Given what I said about modern poetry/poets at the beginning of this review, I get my hand slapped in Failed Poem on New Parents’ Similes. Simon Jackson knows exactly what a poem is.
I really enjoyed the poems in this section. I found them very true, bringing back memories and emotions that I had almost forgotten.
Part II, Birth and revolution, is much harsher than Part 1. The cold, violent world intrudes contrasting public and domestic pain. I found A Curfew of Children especially powerful. Here are the final two stanzas which ring so very true:
Each horrifying, external event
Shocks briefly but does little to change
The politics of our existence,
Unlike the rule of our mini mullahs
Who dictate our whole system of belief and being.
It is a collection to be revisited.
"An impressive and beautiful collection of finely-wrought poetry charting the wonder, pain, anxiety, humour and utter joy of the early journey of fathering," Berlie Doherty, twice winner of the Carnegie Medal, 1986 and 1991, and the Writers Guild of Great Britain Award 1992 and 1997.
"In these direct, skilful and moving poems, Simon Jackson does the near impossible, conjuring up the trinity of love, despair and exhaustion that is parenting. At the centre of the story he puts the mother's visceral experience, as any sane father does. Recommended for old parents who want to recall their experiences, and new parents who want to feel less lonely, and soon-to-be parents who need to prepare for what is about to hit them," Mike Stocks, winner of the Goss First Novel Award for White Man Falling.
‘Before cards, toys, babygrows, nappy cream, prams or blankets, you should buy this tender, thought-provoking collection for anyone who is expecting, has children or was ever a child. Humane, life-affirming and full of joy and wonder, this is a collection the world needs right now,” Tom Brodie, British Council.
Amazon 5 STAR customer review:
Isobel Rufus-Henry - Poems that ring true, recalling memories and emotions
The Birth Revolution is by Simon Jackson.
Part I, The Birth Revolution, gives its name to the whole collection and is the dominant section. It’s about conception, pregnancy and birth. It is very powerful. Not a word is wasted. Broken Water, a sonnet, tells you all you need to know about the final stages of labour in fourteen lines.
Jackson uses humour, wonder, fear and also manages to convey the contradictory feelings of expectation and tedium in late pregnancy:
Your pendulous walk ticking off the days
And drawing stares and smiles that tell
You can no longer pass as one of the girls;
Not yet a mother.
Given what I said about modern poetry/poets at the beginning of this review, I get my hand slapped in Failed Poem on New Parents’ Similes. Simon Jackson knows exactly what a poem is.
I really enjoyed the poems in this section. I found them very true, bringing back memories and emotions that I had almost forgotten.
Part II, Birth and revolution, is much harsher than Part 1. The cold, violent world intrudes contrasting public and domestic pain. I found A Curfew of Children especially powerful. Here are the final two stanzas which ring so very true:
Each horrifying, external event
Shocks briefly but does little to change
The politics of our existence,
Unlike the rule of our mini mullahs
Who dictate our whole system of belief and being.
It is a collection to be revisited.