Di Slaney, 'January conversations with dogs', from Valley Press
Di Slaney’s ‘January conversations with dogs’ from Valley Press is a beautifully illustrated, by Jane Burn, sequence poem recording twenty-one conversations while walking her dog Taffy.
Diary entry format, these tiny snapshot poems witnessing the landscape and meetings with strangers and locals, recording with precise observation and tonal weather, what connects us. The form of one, unpunctuated, stanza per day reinforces the theme, with notes on the dogs’ responses endearing. Each day an overlap of many conversations.
‘25th January’ uses a succession of colours and images to reflect grief
talked about an acrylics
course painting streaks…
there’s never really grey
in the sky only shades of blue
‘10th January’ the briefest entry,
Saw no one
heartless wind
Slaney’s illustrated pamphlet is an enchanting way to highlight the small, but consequential, interactions of the everyday and their resonance.
