Book review by Dale Harcombe
Sometimes it can be difficult to be a committed Christian
and also be respected by the secular world for writing craft. Andrew Lansdown
can lay claim to being a Baptist pastor, an education officer in prisons, a tutor and also one of Australia’s
most respected poets, His poems have won awards and been published in
many of Australia’s leading literary magazines and newspapers.
Any new Andrew Lansdown book of poetry is always a cause for
celebration. His newest collection of poems collection spans 35 years of
fatherhood. I particularly liked: These
Gifts, End of Day, Home, Paper Wasps, Freedom and I felt the regret and
distance in Aftermath and my absolute
favourite Lansdown poem Boat. Into Darkness is another favourite here.
Andrew Lansdown has the capacity to tenderly capture the
small moments of everyday family life without reducing them to sentimentality
in such poems as Binoculars, Confinement,
Mowing, After a Storm, Dialogues with my Daughter, and Poised
on a Premonition, to mention a few. I
could go on and on. There are so many poems to recommend in this book. Even
though I have read a number of these poems before in other volumes of his
poetry, it is like coming upon a familiar friend to read them again here
gathered around this unifying theme. Some of them deal with the Fatherhood of
God and the experience of being a child of God as Andrews’ own experience of
being a father.
To my mind poetry books are not meant to be devoured in a
hurry. They are to be read, re read and savoured which is exactly what I have
been doing with this book. Anyone who loves imagery and poetry based on
everyday life will gain a lot from reading and re-reading this collection. It has the capacity to help us to remember to
delight in the small moments. This collection is a joy. It is not hard to see
why Andrew Lansdown is such a respected name in Australian poetry scene, while
his Christian faith shines through his poetry.
Dale writes fiction and poetry. Her latest novel is Streets on a Map is currently available as an E book. She has also written children’s books, bible studies, Sunday school material, devotionals, and articles about marriage, home and Christian living. She is currently at work on a new novel, tentatively titled Sandstone Madonna and some new poems. You can find out more about Dale from her website www.daleharcombe.com or her Write and read with Dale blog
