Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells . . .
from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Drawing on the phrasing of T.S. Eliot’s amazing early 20th century poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (above) Frank Prem has produced a collection of companionable and introspective love poetry written, as always, in the unique style that allows every reader to relate.
Prem’s interpretations breathe new life into contemporary exploration of themes of love in poetry, and utilise Eliot’s original phrases to inspire a contemplation of the self in the context of landscape and the wider world:
I am seeking you
within the hubbub
and the burly
trying to gauge
location
by the strength
and timbre
of your voice
rising
and falling
even as you rise
and fall
from Rescue and Redemption
Rescue and Redemption is the third of the three collections that together comprise A Love Poetry Trilogy, with each revisiting outstanding work by stellar poets of the past to produce vibrant new collections. The first collection, walk away silver heart, draws on Amy Lowell’s deeply personal Madonna of the Evening Flowers, while the second, a kiss for the worthy, derives from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.
This is a new kind of poetry that tells stories, draws pictures and elicits emotional responses from readers. Just as the best poetry should.