A Secret Lost in the Water

Editorial Reviews -

Pterodactyl Rose

From the Publisher

In the title poem of Pterodactyl Rose, the speaker tells us that when he drives he peers into his rear-view mirror and imagines the air behind him filling with the bodies of those ancient creatures his internal combustion engine is burning. He says he is wild with prayer and longing, as we all are as we enter a 21st century that will probably determine whether mankind will have a long tenure on this planet or will be just another vanished species. In poem after poem here, William Heyen probes the roots of our unprecedented ecological crisis and carries us with him. His voice is the voice of his "Crickets": " the ones that still / have their legs, keep scraping them together, / listen, maybe for the last time on earth, listen . . ."

The Pterodactyl's Wing: Welsh World Poetry, edited by Richard Gwyn

Synopsis:

This anthology of thirty-six poets from Wales-18 women and 18 men-was put together with the underlying premise that poetry reflects a state of astonishment before the world as well as the means for that astonishment. With the ambiguous and half-ironic subtitle of World Welsh

Poetry is encapsulated the idea that while these poems are by Welsh writers, they largely represent an outward-looking Welsh-ness, or at times an exile's view, written from beyond Wales's borders and inciting a deeper reflection on what Welsh poetry is and might be. This collection presents an exciting and unique opportunity to read work by younger or lesser-known Welsh poets writing in English. Among the poets included are: Sarah Corbett, David Greenslade,