A Bird's Idea of Flight by David Harsent F Starik almost magical stages that make

almost magical stages that make us what we are – people who create people

their secrets and their hopes

Ian Hamilton Finlay

'Ample proof that good formal poetry is very much alive

Mutability – a sense that all matter is unstable in the face of mortality – is at the heart of this new collection and each poem is involved in that drama: the held tension that is embodied life

A Bird's Idea of Flight by David Harsent F Starik almost magical stages that makeA Bird's Idea of Flight describes a circular journey in a sequence of 25 poems. Twelve poems chart the outward journey, the thirteenth is pivotal, and twelve poems bring the traveler back. The subject of his quest is thanatology; in particular, he is deeply curious about the business of his own death. It is an adventure of discovery and disillusionment, during which the figure of death, as companion, mentor and guide, appears along the way, and in