Southsightedness
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley April 10, 2025
Author Gregory Day
Distributor: Transit Lounge
ISBN: 9781923023284
Publisher: Transit Lounge
Release Date: April 2025
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Poetry in all its formats is deeply immersive, but very mood driven, no matter what the subject that has caught the eye of the poet; emotion, environment, people, moods and pretty well most everything in between.
Southsightedness is Gregory Day’s latest release of intimate and vibrant poetry created over the past twenty years, many of the of the pieces used as the catalyst for his novels, two of which were short listed for the prestigious Myles Franklin awards.
But back to the anthology that is waiting to be explored, an anthology that explores so much of the modern world, written in modern terminology that provokes, creates thought and touches at times, the very essence of who we are as people on this earth.
One of the more delicate pieces is the short but powerful Southsightedness, a reflection on change, how we see what is there and yet not there, contrasting elements of nature.
In the introduction Little Marsh, Gregory Day sums up succinctly the art that is poetry in all its forms when he says, ‘Moments come and go like sunshowers, shining with passing light, proving that we do have the desire to share and remember.’ Poetry captures these ever fleeting moments by recording them for as long as the ink on the paper lasts!
Sister Light details a gentle yearning for a beloved sister to return once again to share the beauty of the wetland; the bird song freely given, the river trees standing sentinel over the river flats, the light dawning slowly over the land, which happens to be just one of the pieces that would be considered as a favourite piece to return to often.
The stanza, sonnets, lyrical connectedness, and standard formats along with free verse are mixed with complex emotions and yet when time is taken to absorb the words, piece by piece, the complete and complex work is emotionally sensitive, raw at times and in many instances, carries within the words a subtle essence of loss for the natural world around us.
Gregory Day’s poetry is intriguing, intricate and not always enjoyable and as with all anthology’s no matter the driving emotions, is one that needs to be enjoyed piece by piece, supped slowly and reflected upon at leisure.