Bees work hard, and there is something in their diligence that touches us. Most of us see only a fraction of their absorbing routines but their ‘bee-lines’ through our parks and gardens are more than enough to suggest their dedication: “…they make a life for themselves that knows no let-up through hours of exploration and return, their thighs golden with pollen…” from ‘Back they sputter’ by Eamon Grennan. Here are poems about getting stung and about a bee-keeping Divinity master in a boarding school whose hives are far more appealing than PE lessons. This heady mix of poems is sure to please anyone who delights in bees, flowers and gardens – or indeed the golden taste of honey! The selection is introduced by environmentalist and broadcaster Brigit Strawbridge Howard. Poems by Ciaran Berry, David Briggs, Miriam Darlington, Heid E. Erdrich, Eamon Grennan, Selima Hill, Carola Luther, Paula Meehan, Pascale Petit and Jean Toomer.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 24

Dimensions: 163 x 217 mm

Publication Date: 01-05-2019

There is probably more poetry about birds than about any other insect or animal, as if there’s something in the nature of a bird that makes it particularly suited to the small and intense space that is a poem. This delightful anthology is a second edition of one of our most popular titles and includes some beautiful new poems. It opens up a captivating world that exists in parallel to our own and will be relished by birders and poetry lovers alike. The ten selections are little miracles in themselves, capturing the quirks of habit or appearance that distinguish one species from another. Never anthropomorphic, they imagine what the vivid life of a bird must be, or tease out what it is that thrills or moves us when we’re surprised by a bird as we hurry about our lives. For Kathleen Jamie the wheeling flight of swallows captures a life lived in brightness and freedom, while for Katrina Porteous a skylark is: “…all the music the heart needs, Full of its sudden fall, silent fields.” from ‘Skylark’ by Katrina Porteous. Poems by Elizabeth Bishop, John Clare, Emily Dickinson, Paul Farley, Rebecca Goss, Kathleen Jamie, Michael Longley, George MacBeth, Katrina Porteous and Lynne Wycherley.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 20

Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-08-2017

Cats have provided writers and artists with inspiration for as long as they have been winding themselves purring round their owners’ legs and fixing them with their big, green eyes. The poems in this pamphlet are evidence of some wonderful cats and their amusing and endearing ways, from Thom Gunn’s kittens galloping like a re-enactment of Ben Hur along the corridor, to Jen Hadfield’s cat asking to be let in at the kitchen door…then out again… . It goes without saying that this pamphlet is best enjoyed with a cat on your lap. “Puss with delight beyond expression, Surveyed the scene and took possession.” from ‘The Retired Cat’ by William Cowper. Poems by Elizabeth Coatsworth, William Cowper, Thom Gunn, Jen Hadfield, Walter de la Mare, Grace Nichols, Anne Stevenson, Anna Wigley.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 20

Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-06-2011

Ten Poems about Dogs pays tribute to man’s – and woman’s – best friend. Introduced by much-loved broadcaster and author Dame Jenni Murray, the poems reveal the great affection people feel for their dogs (and dogs for their owners). In amongst alternately poignant and hilarious accounts of dog-ownership, are some slightly unsociable aspects, like the neighbours’ dog in Billy Collins’ poem, which barks loud and long every time they go out… Whether you are a dog-lover or need a peace-offering for your neighbours these poems make a wonderful introduction to the canine world as documented over the centuries in poetry. As Dame Jenni Murray says in her Introduction, “It’s such a relief to find wonderful poems like these and realise you’re not alone in your canine passion.” The Dog The truth I do not stretch or shove When I state the dog is full of love. I’ve also proved, by actual test, A wet dog is the lovingest. by Ogden Nash. Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lord Byron, Billy Collins, Susan Hamlyn, Ogden Nash, Linda Pastan, Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson, Siegfried Sassoon, Stevie Smith and Paul Yandle.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 24

Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-06-2011

The poems in this selection take us on an exhilarating canter through our friendships with horses. Along the way, we meet an edgy stallion waiting for his winter bale and a pony picking her way across paddocks after having her hooves trimmed: “…she sidled through the silver air pretending to shy at shadows each hair of her coat standing upright with joy.” from ‘The Grey Pony’ by Dorothy Hewett. There are also encounters of a quieter kind – a moment lingering at a field gate as horses decide whether to come over and say hello. The poems beautifully illustrate that humans and equines are always equals. We can learn as much from them as they from us. Alison Brackenbury is an award-winning poet who has kept and loved horses for most of her life. Poems by Alison Brackenbury, Jane Commane, Tony Curtis, Sally Goldsmith, Adam Lindsay Gordon, Jen Hadfield, Dorothy Hewett, Geoffrey Holloway, Maxine Kumin and Robert Wrigley.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 20

Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-01-2019

This is our second mini-anthology of sheep poems. Sheep are such a familiar feature of our rural landscape that most of us pay them little attention. Even less visible to the outsider’s eye is the year-round work of shepherds who look after their flocks through the changing seasons. This selection of poems is introduced by shepherdess and textile designer Alison O’Neill who lives on a hill top farm in Cumbria, tending her flock of native Herdwicks, Swaledales and Rough Fells. The poems reflect the hardships and quiet joys of the shepherding year, and the deep relationship between humans and sheep developed down the centuries. We’re encouraged to look at these humble creatures afresh and to reflect on the simplicity of their lives: “Thousands of sheep, soft-footed, black-nosed sheep – one by one going up the hill and over the fence – one by one four-footed pattering up and over – one by one wiggling their stub tails…” from ‘Sheep’ by Carl Sandburg. Poems by Alfred Brendel, Jim Carruth, John Clare, Nicola Daly, Eugene Field, Hannah Lowe, Hugh McMillan, Carl Sandburg, Susan Taylor and Siriol Troup.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 20

Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-11-2017

Here’s one for the friends in our lives who have succumbed to the charms of chickens. A dozen poems celebrate their quirks and curiosities, with chickens increasingly kept and cherished by besotted owners whose gardens and smallholdings will never be the same again. From Diana Gittins’ petulant hens preening themselves and annihilating the flower beds, to Caroline Hawkridge’s splendid cockerel straddling the world and yelling his good morning, endearing characters of the poultry world come clucking to life: ‘There should be a word for the way they look with just one eye, neck bent … … And for the way they run toward someone they trust, their skirts hiked, their plump bodies wobbling.’ from ‘A Glossary of Chickens’ by Gary Whitehead. Poems by Jean Atkin, Jacqueline Brown, John Clare, Robert Frost, Diana Gittins, Robert Graves, Caroline Hawkridge, Norman MacCaig, Kay Ryan, Sir Charles Sedley, Jane Sudworth and Gary Whitehead.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 24

Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-08-2015

The best things come in little packages. This latest mini-anthology from Candlestick belongs to our new ‘Christmas Collection’ series and contains brand new poems by ten leading contemporary poets. The poems range from the surreal to the tenderly nostalgic, taking in the perils of an over-crowded shopping mall, the bah… humbug of Christmas enjoyed in glorious solitude and a jaded Mary who has spent far too long on the back of a donkey. We also meet a vibrant, unconventional Christmas Mother: “A brook was coiled on her head in loops of auburn hair with aquamarine banks threaded with lizards and snakes…” from ‘Christmas Mother’ by Pascale Petit. If Christmas lapses all too easily into traditional familiarity, these poems will provide a bracing antidote – a little something to indulge in while the plum pudding is taking its toll. Poems by Simon Armitage, Panya Banjoko, Alison Brackenbury, Ian Duhig, Jonathan Edwards, WN Herbert, Lorraine Mariner, Pascale Petit, Gregory Woods and Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 24

Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-09-2017

It’s better to give than to receive, as the saying goes. But then, of course, there is sharing which contains a bit of both. This mini-anthology of specially-commissioned poems by leading poets captures the rich rewards of that exchange – whether the memory of time spent with a loved one, the singing of carols or the magic of getting ready for Christmas morning with a young child: “We fill your pillow case with glittered jewels and illuminated texts. In the morning you wake to find a room covered with frosted leaves, berries and fairy lights.” from ‘Midwinter Gods’ by Jessica Mookherjee. There’s humour in an imagined baby shower for the new-born Christ-child, complete with a carpentry set and a bottle of pink fizz from someone who thought it was going to be a girl. Elsewhere we encounter an ailing family cat who recovers just in time to run rings around the Christmas tree. This selection will delight and entertain – while also reminding us of the things that really count. Poems by Andre Bagoo, Suzannah V Evans, Mark Fiddes, John Greening, Helen Ivory, John McCullough, Jessica Mookherjee, Pey Oh, Kelley Swain and Ben Wilkinson.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 20

Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-09-2020

These ten poems celebrate all that’s wonderful about baking – the time-honoured recipes, the patient kneading and stirring of ingredients, the sticky fingers in the mixing bowl. Baking, the poems seem to say again and again, is a profoundly human art: a homemade summer pudding can create “a stillness lost in taste” at a dinner party with friends, while an old spice jar can transport us swiftly back to childhood: “I opened one: faint kitchen scents (a trace of fruit breads, Welsh cakes, and the kitchen warm and welcoming from school) took shadow form: allspice and nutmeg, cinnamon and mace…” from ‘Spice Jars’ by DA Prince. These are poems for anyone who loves to bake, as much as for those who simply appreciate the glory of a well-made Victoria Sponge. Helena Nelson is a poet and publisher – and a dab hand at choux pastry. Poems by Harry Clifton, CJ Dennis, Cathy Grindrod, Grevel Lindop, Gill McEvoy, Graham Mort, Helena Nelson, Kenn Nesbitt and DA Prince.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 20

Dimensions: 137 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-01-2020