Phoenix is a collection of over 60 poems by Grey Wolf, covering a quarter century of writing. Most are illustrated with beautiful photographs from around the United Kingdom, including many taken in the picturesque Swansea Valley, as well as others from the North of Scotland.
Grey Wolf currently lives near Swansea in South Wales, and is self-employed. He edits www.ahfmagazine.com and runs several local history websites in the Upper Swansea Valley. He misses Sparrowhawk, but one day things will change for the better.
In this large collection of sixty poems, poet Grey Wolf brings us his observations on life over the past thirty years. Sometimes serious, often whimsical, always evocative, the poems explore humanity, nature and relationships through various forms of imagery, often drawing upon classical themes. Care must be taken in reading these poems, for they are not to be rushed through. All of them should be savored like delicacies, seemingly simple in form, yet complex in execution. Many of the poems have the rhyme and rhythm we expect from traditional forms of poetry, but none of the poems are slaves to those conventions. I enjoyed all of the poems for one reason or another, but my favorites tended to draw upon imagery that connected with me on a personal level, poems such as “Shrine of the Unicorn” with its hints of archaic Hellas, and “The Winter of the Mind,” which took me into the deepest part of the woods by moonlight. I liked also that all the poems could be enjoyed verbally, unlike many modern poems, for I believe that the best poems are those that have not abandoned the audible origins of poetry.