A Bird's Idea of Flight by David Harsent Half the Human Race and Out of the Blue:

and Out of the Blue: Poems 1975-2001 (2001)

‘She writes with honesty

fairy tales and childhood memories to tap into a world beyond conscious reach

Those objects resurface in the poem as a metaphor for a loss that is as personal as it is historical

A Bird's Idea of Flight by David Harsent Half the Human Race and Out of the Blue:A Bird's Idea of Flight describes a circular journey in a sequence of 25 poems. Twelve poems chart the outward journey, the thirteenth is pivotal, and twelve poems bring the traveler back. The subject of his quest is thanatology; in particular, he is deeply curious about the business of his own death. It is an adventure of discovery and disillusionment, during which the figure of death, as companion, mentor and guide, appears along the way, and in