Poets and Poems: Rachael Allen and “Kingdomland”

Have you experienced an assault by a vinegar wind? Have you seen the man selling peacock features on the roundabout? Are your curtains full of soot? Is your table gilded with international meats? Have you seen tea stirred in a cruel way?

These, and more, are the images and metaphors of the poems of Kingdomland by British poet Rachael Allen. It’s a strange landscape she describes, one that is unfamiliar and oddly recognizable simultaneously. The images, and the poems they’re embedded in, are jarring and perplexing (she notes that several of the poems in the collection were inspired by artworks).. And yet all of us have had nights of poor sleep, failed relationships, memorable summers in our youth, and not recognizing our own faces in the mirror. 

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.