The flying parliament, and other poems

This volume gathers a varied set of poems that capture the tumult of the early twentieth‑century conflict and the quiet moments that slipped through its shadows. The verses move from stark war scenes to intimate snapshots of everyday life, offering both grand, sweeping images and tender, personal reflections. Readers will hear the clang of distant artillery alongside the soft rustle of pigeons in a deserted piazza, each piece stitched together with a clear, resonant voice. The poet’s sense of place is strong, rooting each feeling in specific landscapes— from highland shores to the marble streets of Venice.

Among the standout pieces is a dramatic tableau set in Venice in late 1917, where sandbagged colonnades, silent bronze statues, and a lone child feeding doves frame a weary American correspondent’s observations. The poem weaves the city’s fading grandeur with the sharp rumble of distant guns, turning stone arches into metaphors for fragile hope. Its language balances lyrical description and stark realism, inviting listeners to feel both the beauty and the melancholy of a world caught in transition.