The Olivette

More about the book

The Olivette is a kaleidoscope, each turn of the wheel threading colors from the past into a new form, each turn of the page weaving a canvas of old fabric with new yarn. Some of the poems were written long ago, some were composed yesterday. They go together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I have tried to maintain visual symmetry and form without being confined and to integrate cogency with rhythm and rhyme. Nevertheless, I have included the abandon of free verse where it has seemed appropriate incorporating varieties of poetic style weaving historical technique translating passage through time and space. To select a sample is nearly impossible since no one poem is like any other either in subject or style. Perhaps 'Glastonbury Abbey' near the beginning and 'Cragsmere Rock' near the end with 'The Regatta I', the Regatta series being used to connect sequences, might suffice. B.C.K.