Sauntering down to the pale, surf-sluiced sands

along this narrow estuary of shade:

a rough rhapsody of rowan trees,

convolvulus and blackberries,

steeped in the scent of rain-drenched earth

on a summer’s afternoon.

The voices of teenagers carry on the wind,

sharp as a shoal of rocks against the sea’s rush,

carrying me back to West Cork in another century.

 
So begins The Pool and Other Poems, a collection of poetry which explores life at the extremities of joy or in sorrow, and many points in between. The book includes a foreword by Grey Gowrie and illustrations by Rosanna Kelly. 

 

 

‘Anthony Gardner’s poems are adept at creating mood efficiently. You at once become a master of his state of mind. You are, in effect, writing the poem with him. He takes on universal emotions: sexual love, fear of dying, the natural world, human limitations…the mood music of Gardner’s verse is compelling and addictive. You will want to read these poems many times and then demand new ones’
– Grey Gowrie