This book includes new poems written since the publication of “The Anvil’s Prayer” in 2013, together with some previously unpublished work collected from the early days of my writing life, and a few poems which have been anthologised or published in several countries. It represents all stages of the last thirty years of my practice as a writer, with a brilliant introduction by the British poet, writer and editor Matt Merritt.

“In its musicality, its generosity, its acuity of mind and vision, and its old-fashioned bravery and honesty, Wood’s poetry is unique and memorable.”
– Matt Merritt, author of “A Sky Full of Birds” (Random House)

“These thirty-eight poems make a succinct, varied ensemble of creative forms where passion and desire, pain and clear-eyed knowledge fuse. This is a splendid book.”
– A.F. Moritz, Poet Laureate of Toronto; Winner of the Griffin Prize for Excellence in Poetry

“James W. Wood is a writer with a uniquely powerful and, at times, bleak vision of modern life. Yet placed against such concerns are poems of a more intimate nature, rooted in the world with a thrilling sensuality.”
– Noel Duffy, 2018 Kavenagh Fellow in Poetry (Ireland); author of “Street Light Amber”, “Summer Rain”, and “In the Library of Lost Objects” (Ward/Wood Publishing)