Hard Drive by Paul Stephenson

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That I got to double digits with the number of tabs I put on poems in this collection should tell you a lot about the quality and intensity of it.

Writing about the impact of the death of his partner many of the poems are hard hitting – but this is an honest grief, there is an immeasurable depth of loss but also an honesty – so of the sorrow is etched with his partners imperfections.

That this is a story of a gay relationship adds to its importance – we need to tell all the stories – too often “gay lives” are only seen when they are in particular moments and contexts – we are fabulous or we are victims we are given very little space in between – the ordinariness to our lives is often the most radical thing about them.

And given the raw energy of the poems the fact that Paul Stephenson is also skilled at the poets craft with them – with a big mix of form etc – this is not a bundle of emotion that has simply gone splat on the page it has been tended, crafted, gifted into fine works of art.