I don't really understand what makes poetry good yet so keep that in mind

enjoyable and good poetry. felt very down to earth and relatable and the style is very easy to read. most of the poems are about her childhood and they're good at capturing a certain feeling - found a few pretty affecting without really understanding why. the last few are reflections on grandmotherhood and her own mothers death that are emotional but not dramatic - kind of understated but still touching and relatable.

feel like maybe it'd stay with you over time even though all the poems are kind of quiet and understated and almost all about very average events. it's all very explicitly autobiographical yet still feels close enough to touch off your own feelings. like listening to your granny talking actually. There's a homely feeling in a good way.

talking about it convinced me to raise the rating to 4 stars cause it touched me more than I realised ( )

A new collection from New Zealand poet Fleur Adcock. The poems are about her family's move to England during WWII. The poems start with the family packing to leave New Zealand, their arrival in England and subsequent multiple moves to other towns and homes, their return to New Zealand after the war and poems of more recent events that evoke those times for Adcock. The poems are straightforward and some are humorous.

The Mill Stream
by Fleur Adcock

And what was the happiest day I remember?
It was when we went to the Mill Stream -

my sister and I and the Morris kids.
We wore our bathing-suits under our dresses

(subterfuge), crossed the live railway lines
(forbidden), and tramped through bluebell woods.

There was a bridge with green and brown shadows
to lurk among in the long afternoon.

Chest high in the stream, with pointy water-snails
as escorts, I could hardly believe my luck.

Happiness is chemical. Sunshine and water
trigger it. (And I couldn't even swim.) ( )