Duncan Harley

Bereft of the usual capitalisation in the title line, Suzanne S. Rancourt’s new poetry anthology ‘ murmurs at the gate’ makes for a quite reasonable read. I have taken the decision to capitalise the header. Not that you would really notice. It’s just that MS Word requires such pleasantries.  Ms Rancourt is of course a military veteran and her past experiences show through and not at all in a shadowy way. There are no smoke bombs here and the 200 or so pages encompass and expose the inner workings of a thoughtful poet who has bravely shed the notion that just a few poems would do for a first shot at stardom. Not that any are superfluous. Just that there are a lot of them. In a more equal world, where editions flow more rarely, reviewers and commentators would have the privilege of following a poetic career. There are some ‘Oh my god the tank is on fire’ moments here. But equally there many short and concisely penned pieces such as November: The tomato like a cup of tea...

On July 2 1687 James II disbanded the English parliament, on the same day in 1900 Sibelius premiered Finlandia in Helsinki. July 2 1941 saw Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit premiered in London. And on July 2 1863, the participants @ the Battle of Gettysburg began a second day of bloodshed. Here in Aberdeen on July 2 2019 there were roadworks outside Robert Gordons and the Triple Kirks was bristling with scaffolding. The Belmont Cinema featured a few popular films and the first ever Doric Film Festival took place alongside the mainly Hollywood offerings such as Toy Story 4, The Queens Corgi and Boyle's Yesterday. Developed and presented by Frieda Morrison of Scots Radio fame it was a lively affair and, alongside some really splendid entries from schools, individuals and groups there were fine speeches from a variety of folk. I particularly liked the school entries and Meethill Primary headed the pack with a quite splendid docu-Doric take on the Bloo Toon.  Alongside the fi...