{"id":57,"date":"2012-01-19T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-19T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=57"},"modified":"2020-12-09T14:36:58","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T14:36:58","slug":"hilary-mellon-reviews-tim-lentons-running-with-scissors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/hilary-mellon-reviews-tim-lentons-running-with-scissors\/","title":{"rendered":"Hilary Mellon reviews Tim Lenton's 'Running with Scissors'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Running With Scissors<\/span>: Poems by Tim Lenton<\/a>(Published by Jokerman House, 22 Aspland Road, Norwich NR1 1SH, 2011, Pamphlet: \u00a33.00 22pp)<\/span>


Tim Lenton is a fine poet who deserves much wider publication and recognition.  He is a former newspaper sub-editor and columnist and has also taught writing of different kinds.  He has written poetry for many years.  His first collection Mist and Fire (also by Jokerman House and available at \u00a34 \u2013 50 post free in the UK) came out in 2003.  His second Off the Map came out in 2007, the same year that he won the Fish International Poetry Prize.  He is a member of InPrint, the visual arts and poetry collaborative group.<\/span>

The poems in this pamphlet were all written during Lent of this year and came out of a personal project to write a poem a day for 40 days.  In his introduction Lenton tells us that many of the poems were inspired by everyday events, and some by extraordinary events, like the tsunami that struck Japan.  One on this theme begins <\/span>When the water rolls back\/ and the pavement settles\/ like a used blanket\/ under new friends\/\/ we hear the clock ticking\/ somewhere out at sea:<\/span> \u2026 and continues with <\/span>Soon we will be collecting time,\/ trying to lock it away\/ so that it cannot hurt us<\/span> \u2026 (\u2018Aftershock\u2019)<\/span>

The themes of temptation and denial run through a number of Lenton\u2019s poems, sometimes part jokingly as in <\/span>I will give up my attempt on Everest\/ I will give up lemon curd, because\/ it tastes like vaseline \u2026 I will give up emptying the rubbish\/ and the contents of my mind\/ and a cold east wind\/ and snow in August<\/span> (\u2018Giving Up\u2019) and sometimes more sternly as in <\/span>Cruel April springs surprising sun:\/ blitzkrieg rays\/ from an innocent sky \/\/ leave me exhausted,\/ open to any argument\/\/ If you were to tempt me now<\/span> \u2026  (\u2018Temptation\u2019)<\/span>

Amongst his other poetic talents, Lenton is a superb minimalist and a master of the unexpected yet perfect ending, as in <\/span>Someone should unlatch my head\/ and leave it wide open\/\/ so that my prayers\/ can float straight up to heaven\/ instead of clinging like bats\/ to the inside of my skull\/\/ radar rebounding off\/ padded walls<\/span> (\u2018Bats\u2019)  <\/span>

He is also a photographer, a fact that is sometimes directly reflected in his poetry.  This can be seen in the opening of \u2018Send Someone Else\u2019 where <\/span>Spring sun fixes river margins\/ like a photograph,\/ and nothing moves,\/ not even yesterday\u2019s prayers \u2026  Sometimes it is rather more indirectly, as in the wonderful image Bare, thin branches\/ against a flatfish sky<\/span> \u2026 (\u2018The Bell\u2019)<\/span>

Lenton is a Christian and his poetry often echoes this. For me, there is something powerfully profound in how he explores his faith, as in \u2018Unable to Sleep\u2019 where <\/span>half-forgotten monsters\/ walk brash ancient paths\/ \u2026 and kick me awake\/ \u2026 telling me\/ that it\u2019s all just stories\/ and there was no garden\/ \u2026 But I do not believe them:\/ I know a holy word when I hear one -\/ a word untangled,\/ set apart\/ from the mess we\u2019re in \u2026<\/span>

The poem from which the pamphlet takes its title (\u2018Running With Scissors\u2019) ends with this wonderfully sharp (forgive the pun) image: <\/span>Next time you see me\/ if I rise from this bed\/ I will be cutting through\/ risking it all\/ running with scissors<\/span>

Lenton takes risks with his poetry and they work.  So take a risk and buy this pamphlet.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

…reviewed by Hilary Mellon  <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running With Scissors: Poems by Tim Lenton(Published by Jokerman House, 22 Aspland Road, Norwich NR1 1SH, 2011, Pamphlet: \u00a33.00 22pp)Tim Lenton is a fine poet who deserves much wider publication and recognition.  He is a former newspaper sub-editor and columnist and has also taught writing of different kinds.  He has written poetry for many years.  […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23756,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions\/23756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}