DEMOCRATIC POETIC
Democratic Poetic is a gathering together of the finest poems published in Poetry Matters from 2006 to 2019. By 'finest' I mean, keen or sharp, as a tool. That is, poetry that does something, effectively. In my reading of each of the poems those chosen gave me a reason why they should be included. I also asked the authors of the poems to provide an introduction to themselves and their work based on the ways in which poetry plays a part in their lives and what it means to them. The responses were marvellously varied and rich. But perhaps the one that impressed me the most was from Joan Parker: 'I was never really "into" poetry. Then one day while supervising an exam in a very hot room, not even a poster on the walls to read, only the bent heads of thirty-five hopeful students at eye-level, I watched some birds in an old twisted tree outside the window. I mentally composed a poem to keep myself awake and as soon as I got home, wrote it down. I have always been a