“In the throes” by Peter Clarke

“In the throes”, by Peter Clarke, is a collection of poems about grief, loss, sadness and the human resilience to survive it all. His poems stretch over a lifetime of memories on the paradoxical nature of joy nearing pain.

All of the poems are exquisite.

I’ve known Peter Clarke for a while.

We’ve met at the Sunflower Sessions at the Lord Edward, and through my work with the Dublin City Public Participation Network. We bump into one another at literary events and volunteering and community events equally. I’m never truly sure if I know Peter from work, or if he’s a friend, who comes to my work things.

In any case, he’s a lovely poet.

His poems can refer to Greek myths and Dublin legends with steady ease. He allows us behind the veil of his most intimate losses, and it doesn’t feel uncomfortable there. He can be light and humorous and playful, and his poems can be angry and frustrated by injustice, unfairness and unkindness.

The poems are reflective but never self-indulgent. They offer no quick cures, or self-help ways out, but they are not hopeless. In many ways, the more intense the pain, the more delicate the golden thread of wisdom.

“In the throes” is a grown up collection of poems, about the challenge of being fully present in a messy, complicated and challenging world. And I’m so very proud of my friend, Peter Clarke, the poet.