The Breaking of the DayThe Breaking of the Day is a book built around a 3 piece title sequence as Michael Heffernan, now in his seventies, reflects on life from his own backyard. The poems venture outwards to take in the whole of Ireland, northern Michigan and the shores of the Great Lakes, even a tumbledown Parisian backstreet. Together they convey an increasing uncertainty in the power of human testimony, seeking solace in the control of the classical metre and vision of

A frog poisonous enough to kill just by touching it

inviting Prince Harry to officially declare open ‘his new gate’

One such applicant takes rooms hosted by a brilliant chess master

erupt from our minds if only for a moment

selling expensive and rare gaming cards to rich collectors

In Praise of Deserting

They are the Age and Innocence of the novel’s title

Samir el-Youssef: I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti

Eliot and various American Beat Generation poets into Latvian

born in the heart of a dying star

also remarked on "the edge of humour

on Tyneside