Rotten Days in Late Summer

by Ralf Webb

In Rotten Days in Late Summer, Ralf Webb turns poetry to an examination of the textures of class, youth, adulthood and death in the working communities of the West Country, from mobile home parks, boyish factory workers and saleswomen kept on the road for days at a time, to the yearnings of young love and the complexities of masculinity.

Alongside individual poems, three sequences predominate: a series of 'Love Stories', charting a course through the dreams, lies and salt-baked limbs of multiple relationships; 'Diagnostics', which tells the story of the death from cancer of the poet's father; and 'Treetops', a virtuosic long poem weaving together grief and mental health struggles in an attempt to come to terms with the overwhelming data of a life.

The world of these poems is close, dangerous, lustrous and difficult: a world in which whole existences are lived in the spin of almost-inescapable fates. In searching for the light within it, this prodigious debut collection announces the arrival of a major new voice in British poetry.

'This is poetry in the grand tradition of annihiliation by desire. It's what the young are always learning, and the old, if they are wise, never forget' Anne Boyer, author of The Undying

'Brilliant . . . heralds the arrival of a frank and vital poetic voice' Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti

'Frank and alert . . . an important voice in British poetry' Eley Williams, author of The Liar's Dictionary

'Direct and heart-breaking' Alex Dimitrov, author of Love and Other Poems

'A rare thing . . . razor-sharp' Julia Copus, author of This Rare Spirit: A Life of Charlotte Mew

Genres: Poetry, Queer, LGBT, Contemporary

112 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 2021

Reviews

[Marius Paulsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tender, evocative, dark, insightful and suprising in a good way. Highly recommend if you’re looking for some new and fresh poetry. 4.25 stars.

[Tas · Rating 4 out of 5]

incapable of committing to reading one book

[Alex George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, really good. The rural South West vibes are so strong. Represent. These poems are so rich and generous and dripping with a really sweet see-the-funny-side kind of sadness. Love is real. Sickness is real. Tractors and fields are horrifyingly real. When Ralf gets on a real roll his stanzas just glide like a mower through the grass. Breath in that pollen, boys. Summer's gone and so are the tories.

[Tom Mooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent debut prose/poetry collection. The sequence about his father's death from cancer was particularly affecting.

[Katrina Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
As soon as I thought I wasn't quite getting on with this, I then felt unexpectedly moved by the love songs.

Grief, illness, youth, growing up and love. Sense of place and season was great.

[Andrew H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why do poems need "A Note on Content" these days? And a link to the Samaritans? Followed by a link to the Hate Crime Helpline? Good grief! I have survived King Lear and Titus Andronicus. Will Sylvia Plath soon come with a mental health warning? Will Catullus be accompanied with a support leaflet, as intended with cigarettes, in case I am offended by explicit language? There are some solid poems in this volume, but many felt desiccated.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this collection after speaking with Ralf at an event I attended. These poems are stunning, and the language is fresh and exquisite. I find a lot of the topics relatable and a lot of the poems held up something of a mirror to my own experiences. Ralf’s work is young, raw, oozing and dark. This is now one of my favourite recent collections and I will hold many of these poems close to my heart.

[Callum Morris-Horne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

Evocative collection of poetry, predominately written in free verse, which contemplates the interpermeation of issues of mental health, contemporary maturation, working class malaise, queer desire and grief. Sometimes particular lines or images are more effective than the sum of each poem’s parts, but I particularly admired the author’s exploration of industrial and ecological masculinities throughout.

[daisy]

loved.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Complete with notes of Sylvia Plath's "Ariel" and also Richard Siken's "Crush", Ralf Webb's debut collection is a really fab read mulling over themes of youth, love and mental health in our modern climate. Thoroughly enjoyable and I think after a second read my rating would jump up to four stars as I'm sure there's way more to these poems than initially meets the eye!! But for now, a solid three from me :))

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the debut collection of poems by Ralf Webb and it is a powerful collection. There are individual poems and then three suites: 'Love Stories', which scattered amongst the other poems describe the course of relationships from beginnings to ends; 'Diagnostics', which are poems focused on the death of his father from cancer; and 'Treetops', which is a long poem that describes the mental health struggles, the grief and that feeling of being overwhelmed that comes from the shear amounts of stuff and information we are surrounded with in the modern world.

One of those suites* alone would be worth the price of admission but together they make for a superb collection of poetry. This collection is also the poetry of normal - ordinary? - life. I always dislike using both normal and ordinary in these circumstances because who decides on normal and ordinary? But these are poems of people who go door-to-door selling, school teachers, factory workers and students.

And whilst there is a lot of serious poetry about serious issues this collection also has humour scattered throughout. "Apparent Retrograde Motion" has a lovely line about 'on form' that made me laugh as it reminded me of being in the presence of people exactly like those Webb is describing.

This though is a strong collection. I find with poetry my feeling of connection to it, my subjugation to it if you like, comes not from subject matter (although that sometimes helps) but from the language. It's hard to explain, which when writing reviews is something of a terrible sin, what it is about the language. Part of it is the sound and rhythm. Part of it is simply the choice of words. I have, elsewhere, used the word 'rightness' to describe this. I have also made the comparison to music. Poetry has its bum notes. This collection doesn't have any bum notes.

I'd love to know the process of how the poet creates their poems. Music might be the obvious comparison to reach for - and all art aspires etc - but sometimes I think sculpture might be a better comparison. The poet, faced with the solid block of the English language, chips out what they want from it. Perhaps it is none of these things. Perhaps it is just poetry.

If I've not made it clear I liked this collection a lot. Again there are lots of notes and highlights in my copy, which is always a sign that I'm enjoying what I'm reading. Recommended.

"It was inconceivable, until it happens, and then
seems as inevitable as losing a chess game:
the fissured head of superior pieces,
having made a sacrifice of weaker blood,
ratchet themselves into tighter positions
and advance, lunatics, into fatal gridlock." (p33)


*I have no idea if suite is the right word, but I feel it fits.

[Juliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There is a goodness here, somewhere,/ there is sense in struggle: / the self-made are good, having struggled.” Ralf Webb’s collection of poems, Rotten Days in Late Summer, is one of those rare perfect collections where each and every poem (stanza, line, word, pause) is as vital and engaging as the one preceding it: all killer, no filler. I’m biased, perhaps; there’s a perfect Simpsons reference in the gorgeous ‘Love Story: Boys at the Age of Twenty’, and, a little later, a final stanza of such emotional and artistic acuity I was rendered briefly senseless in ‘Love Story: The Back Pages’. There are also two sensational long poems, distinct from one another but both testaments to the liveliness of the form: the deeply affecting ‘Diagnostics’, exploring loss and witnessing the sickness of a loved one, and ‘Treetops’, a sprawling and thoroughly wrenching reflection on self-harm and depression. These four poems alone set Webb’s talent aside, and there are so many more, by turns lyrical, sparse, rhythmic, brash, elegiac; there’s ‘The Chicken Witness’, which I found so unnerving and moving, and ‘You Can’t Trust Violence’, which features a whole range of evocative images, juxtapositions and sounds: “God’s hand closes and makes a fist. / The path folds in on itself. Keys, ignition.” The control that Webb exerts throughout may be his greatest virtue, a sensitivity and sensibility necessary to communicate so much heft and depth in such a small, unputdownable debut.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good stuff — lots in here that gestures to critique/discontent/ennui/etc with the excesses of a global culture that seems to be self-destroying and utterly devoid of life and joy. Yet, these gestures fail to go much further than that, leaving them only as vague implications as set dressing (which, to the poet's credit is clearly intentional).
As others have said, the sequence in which the poet charts their father's slow death from cancer is particularly successful, although I didn't care for the other long sequence in the book. The Love Stories were generally good, but also nothing I haven't read before (or better, sorry!)

[Rich Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunningly tender verse. The 2 long poems (diagnostics and treetops) pair beautifully with the former full of sorrow and the latter angry with cynicism.

The book works through the poet's youth with the story of the death of his dead and the subsequent funeral interspersed with love poems and stories of general life. It all felt cutting and vivid. The way self harm is depicted, almost with the embarrassment of mentioning a taboo subject, skimmed over quickly without emphasis, really brought out the confusion of emotions.

A really great collection that I'd struggle to fault

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible collection of poetry. In each poem Webb is able to carefully navigate so many facets of emotional growth from first love to trauma. I found the heart of the collection to be the harrowing prose poems about his father’s cancer treatment. Also great Wiltshire vibes for anyone from hails from that wonderful county.

[Paige Ramsamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A person out of time, now slipping, unnoticed, into change: there is no correct place to end, or begin.”

This was a brutal read. Felt dissembled on each page until I was left to piece the crumbs of myself, inspecting each one as a reflection from the pages. Especially the Love stories.

I had difficulty separating my relationship to ‘Love Story: Boys at the Age of Twenty’. You know why.

[Cooch · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some excellent poems here

This is a good first collection. It is a bit uneven in quality, but it is a rewarding read overall. There are some excellent moments and excellent poems

[Emīls Ozoliņš · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a fine collection, especially for a debut. I picked it up for half off in Groningen, and I’m glad I decided to take a leap of faith without any prior knowledge. (Although, of course, the orange spine helped tremendously.)

[Lizzie Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked 'Diagnostics' (it made me cry) and a couple others, and also I read it on a very hot evening in early September (late summer) with mud from the river I just swam in on my feet (rotten) so it felt fitting

[Charlotte Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

*2.5

[Rebecca Travers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read quickly and easily, a decent poetry collection. Evocative of the time frame and countryside during youth. I particularly resonated with the section on grief.

[Az · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed most of these.

[Martyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

tomik o miłości, żałobie i doświadczeniu queerowości. moje ulubione: cultural studies, love story: Dettol protects i love story: discourse goblins