Shaking the Persimmon Tree

These poems raised a wry smile but also a lump in the throat and a tear. Marc’s descriptions in few well chosen words create pictures in the mind that allow a pause, to reflect and connect.

The words in this collection will take you across the world to Italy, the Ganges and back to Marc Woodward's home county of Devon. You will smile at Thin Luigi, sigh at the inner meaning as you read 'The Boar' , deal with life and death, and hopefully be a wiser person as you come to the end of this beautifully produced book

I would urge anyone who loves Poetry to buy this book. Poetry should both roar and whisper, this book whispers and roars. Beautiful, and skillfully placed words describe a world that only Poets see, and as you're taken to the various places, you're suddenly stimulated into deeper thought, the whole book is captivating. Poetry accessible. important and enjoyable.

I admit to approaching this book with a little trepidation as I so liked Marc’s first book ‘Hide Songs’ I was worried he wouldn’t have continued that quiet, sensitive, observational voice. But of course I needn’t have worried. This collection is, if anything even better. In it Marc talks about Italy, Parkinson’s disease, Nature and Covid with poems that are carefully crafted and often pick out the small, easily missed things as well as taking in the bigger picture. Often it’s the small things that make life so interesting. None of the poems is ‘difficult’ to understand for any reader, and for those interested in looking deeper there is often much to find. For instance the poem ‘The Boar’ is about what it says, but is also about Parkinson’s disease (and perhaps other things I’ve yet to discover). And many other poems are about more than one thing and deserve repeated readings both for the meaning and often for the structure. These poems which are well crafted using various poetic forms are clearly edited to fit a specific form or worked design. As ‘Lovers in the Elephant Grass’ which comes in the form of a one sentence sonnet so designed to be read straight though in a breathless fashion as befits the subject matter. All in all an excellent collection and I can’t recommend it enough. (Along with his first full collection ‘Hide Songs’ if you can find a copy of it anywhere).