Quietly splendid book of poems

THE THIN BOY<br><b>John Gibb</b><br><i>Cold Hub Press</i>
THE THIN BOY<br><b>John Gibb</b><br><i>Cold Hub Press</i>
Cold Hub Press has produced another couple of excellent chapbooks.

John Gibb, like Kay McKenzie Cooke, lives in Dunedin. Gibb has been a science and university reporter at the Otago Daily Times for more than 25 years.

The thin boy talks about arrivals and departures, ghosts, wind, lying awake in winter, and a robber on the run.

''Magician's Last Performance'' concludes:
Words fumble their meanings,
The alphabet mislays its sounds,
Rhythms slither snake-likeUnderground.
Magician's last performance.
The rabbit's eyes fill with tears.
A wave of wand. The audience cheers.
The last poem hops into the hat and disappears.

Gibb has flashes of awareness and hope. He produces an enormous insight. This is a quietly splendid book. The thin boy rises to the occasion throughout.

- Hamesh Wyatt lives in Bluff. He reads and writes poetry.

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