For the second day on National Poetry month I’m reading and relishing Sinead Morrissey’s sixth collection. These are gorgeous and serious poems and you can hear her read them on the archive of the Newcastle Poetry festival from 2017.

I’m finding these poems fresher and more vibrant than most of Walcott’s yesterday. Perhaps an unfair comparison given White Egrets was written at the end of his life. My favourite poem from On Balance is ‘The Singing Gates’ about her grandfather being interned during the second world war in Crumlin Road Gaol. You can hear her read it at about 20 minutes on the link above.