A Landscape With Birds

Paperback | 9781913499952 | 40pp | July 2022

In all our interactions with the natural world, birds are always present. Like a Greek chorus birds are observers of our behaviour; their cries act as a commentary on our lives. The birds in this pamphlet notice us; they embody human emotions and behaviour; through them we explore facets of ourselves. Occasionally, they judge us. The poems in the book use birds as a metaphor or symbol for an emotion or experience or else they are poems that have a birds’ eye view on things.

Praise for A Landscape With Birds (2022)

‘This collection of poems by Beth Brooke is perfectly named. Yes, birds flutter through its pages, but for me the key aspect of the collection is the sense of place. These poems are rooted in the landscape. On an emotional level, these poems examine freedom and release; the intensity of parenting, and the poignancy of what remains once change has happened.’ 
— Sarah Connor, Steel Jackdaws, issue 7

'A Landscape With Birds is a landscape of longing, a deep affinity for nature, and the sharpest observation. Like the author, the birds perch throughout, their eager eyes not missing a trick. At every turn, there is a sense of equality with the natural world.’
— Nina Parmenter

’Beth Brooke's love of birds and natural landscape is conveyed powerfully and vividly in these poems, using all the senses. Hear the 'staccato bullets' from the magpie's gun, feel the 'boomerang wings of swifts' and see 'splinters of light across the sea'. The poems will carry you with them, eloquently - and stay with you.’
— Marion Ashton