Planet 228

Jeni Williams reviews
This Is Not A Rescue
by Emily Blewitt

This Is Not A Rescue

Seren, £9.99

‘Riotous, cacophonous and wonderful’: Emily Blewitt’s first collection, This Is Not A Rescue, comes laden with the kind of praise that generates high expectations. But I found a rather mixed selection: some strong and others a little slight. I did not find riot and cacophony. Blewitt is actually strongest with tight structures, striking images, and pared-down language – a lovely example, taken from the list poem ‘We Broke Up’, condenses sweetness, sharpness, and golden love in the aphoristic simplicity of ‘Because honey bees die / when they love’.

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