Michael Tolkien publishes his 8th poetry collection

Michael Tolkien publishes his new collection of poetry which reflects the dynamism of the natural world and mercurial nature of human relationships

About this poetry collection:
Uncertainty is a major theme of this collection. It is shown to be perplexing, moving, even uplifting, as found in personal relationships and behaviour observed in both the human and ‘natural’ worlds. The doldrums and peaks of the capacity for ‘creative’ work add further perspectives, and throughout the presence or absence of love and appreciation is crucial.

About the Author:
Michael Tolkien was born in Birmingham, then raised in a rural community in the Chiltern Hills. His further formative years passed mostly in North Yorkshire for which he has retained a particular attachment. He studied English Literature and Classics at St Andrews, followed by studies for a B.Phil at Oxford. In 1968 he settled in Rutland to work as a secondary school teacher. Retiring in 1994 he he worked part-time in adult education, and focused on his own writing and reviewing. He is also a director of the Tolkien Estate and Charitable Trust.

This is Michaels eighth full collection of poems along with two early booklets and three verse narrative fantasies published from 2012-2014. More details, including all his reviews, can be found on his website https://michaeltolkien.com.

The poem RETREAT
Why get out of bed because
the big hand has reached 12?
Leave unfinished what insists
on waiting, undisturbed

by the breeze of your passing.
Take time to take time, time
that measures change
and need not measure you.

Lie there and slither across
minds furrows to light on
crab-apple trees laden with
fine, inedible fruit. Soar over

hill edge after lazy buzzards,
breathe new life into that ruin
by the dried-out beck bursting
into leaf-light and sequined ruffles,

while, far beyond, the motorways
a muted screen game, and over it
starlings shriek, flock and soar
in astonishing bric–brac.

Alive in Winter by Michael Tolkien is available in hardback from Amazon UK at:
www.amazon.co.uk/Alive-Winter-Michael-Tolkien/dp/180369856X

This poetry collection is also available to purchase in paperback at:
www.amazon.co.uk/Alive-Winter-Michael-Tolkien/dp/1803698136

Press/media contact details:
Darin Jewell (Michael Tolkiens literary agent)
Managing Director, The Inspira Group Literary Agency
Tel. 0208 292 5163
E-mail: darin ( @ ) theinspiragroup dot com

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