When knowledge is ours at the tap of a key, what is it we're accumulating, and is it at the expense of another, more intuitive, kind of knowing? The word 'fool' derives from the Latin follis, one of whose meanings is 'empty-headed person'. Such mindlessness is not quite imaginable, but perhaps it is possible that by unknowing a thing we can start to see it differently. There's a lot the fool doesn't know - otherwise they wouldn't be a fool - but can anyone be trusted to know anything? A low-level hum of discordance runs through these poems: between inner and outer worlds, between the sceptical and the wondering mind. Ideas of belief and truth play out in various ways, often through lone figures, fools maybe, thinking aloud, continually distracted by the necessary performance of being. Fool is Greta Stoddart's fourth collection. Her third collection Alive Alive O was published by Bloodaxe in 2015.
***
I know it's been years but I want to speak out now for that girl who used to sit on the bench in a shapeless frock, with an orange and brown diamond pattern no one would seriously wear - her hair greased and parted down the middle her face a powdered white.
***
(@BloodaxeBooks, 15 September 2022, 72 pages, #ARC from the publisher via @ edelweiss_squad)
***
***
This is a new poet for me. First off, I really liked the front cover, cute and appealing. It made me want to read the collection. I enjoyed the poems on offer here. The poems are quite humorous at times but had a more serious side as well. I liked the style, tone and structure of the pieces. I really enjoyed this collection and would recommend it.
