Misapprehensions

Many of the poems in E. A. Markham's sixth collection reveal a sense of disquiet which ranges in tone from the comic to the sombre. Yet the overall feel of the book is of something intimate, personal and celebratory, which overrides those darker undercurrents of the poet's apprehensions. The poems are accompanied by three fascinating prose sketches which focus on his childhood and his mother's death. They act as extended footnotes or informing narratives which give individual poems – including those paying homage to Nelson Mandela, the late Andrew Salkey and Brian Lara – a special resonance.