Nature’s Gold – Poetry Review

Penny Luker is the author of ‘The Mermaid’ a book of short stories and two other children’s books, among others. She also writes for the e-zine ‘All Things Girl,’ http://www.allthingsgirl.com.

Further links to her writing can be found at:

http://www.pennyluker.wordpress.com
http://www.penspoems.wordpress.com

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Nature’s Gold, by Penny Luker

(Available from Amazon in both Ebook & Print format)

This is a lovely collection of short well constructed poems covering a variety of themes: betrayal, satire, humour, domestic abuse, getting old, and first love to name but a few. From the betrayal of a wife as she notices the smell of perfume on here husbands shirt to the hard-hitting satire on fox hunting, the author treats her topics with a gentle yet poignant tone.
Amid the joy and sadness of these poems, there are several varied reflections of life, such as being flattered at the hairdressers, but remembering not to give away too many secrets, and then on a more serious note the injustice of how different the lives of children can be depending where they are born, and back again to a more humorous tone, exploring the joys of being a grandparent (though I won’t spoil the ending to that one). I particularly enjoyed some of the more uplifting poems too, such as one about a young man finally getting the opportunity to flee the nest and the birth of a new baby. The author also makes good use of contrast and comparison within each poem when appropriate, especially so in Blue Planet and The Demise of the Country Fox.
Stylistically these are more of a prose style than the traditional rhyming verse, though the author does combine the two most effectively I would say. Most of the poems here tell a story, but again there are several more abstract verses that allow the reader’s thoughts to wander, reflect, and interpret according to their own memories and experience. A delightful collection I shall no doubt be rereading from time to time…

Further works by Penny Luker: click thumbnails for Amazon links..