Deborah Alma's debut Dirty Laundry is raucous, sexy and brilliantly honest - a rich mix of sharply observed, funny and often poignant poetry. Deborah Alma runs the world's first and only mobile poetic first aid service from her base in Newtown, Powys. A mix of the serious, the therapeutic and the theatrical, the Emergency Poet offers consultations inside her vintage 1970s ambulance and prescribes poems as cures. She is also the editor of the anthologies The Emergency Poet: an Anti-Stress Poetry Anthology and The Everyday Poet: Poems to Live By (both Michael O'Mara Books Ltd). Her pamphlet True Tales of the Countryside was published by The Emma Press in 2015.
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[Three chickens died this week / They sat in the unexpected heat panting / And in the morning there was just one / white bird, bewildered, stepping over / their bodies, following the dog (FLOCK_)]***
(@NineArchesPress, 31 July 2018, e-book, 76 pages, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveLibs)
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I'd never heard of the poet before but I loved the cover and I've been impressed by other poetry collections from the publisher. I really enjoyed this collection. The poems are well written, engaging and a lot of fun to read. I took time to savour and enjoy each poem. The poems explore wide ranging themes such as being a woman, femininity, life, love and loss. This is the poet's debut and I look forward to reading more of her work. The best poems are Nearly Love, I Am My Own Parent, Troll, Like Chocolate, Lift Him up Out and Trust.
