“There are famous poets of my generation and younger who have no idea of the debt they owe to Pete Morgan. His poems are dramatic, formally superb, funny, toughly tender, lyrical and never less than entertaining. Ted Hughes was a fan of his.” - CAROL ANN DUFFY
FLURRY
Even the gulls were bitter mourners,
their stark cries were of desolation.
Jolted from the night to day
they rose from rock
and soared to light.
Something had come to some bleak ending,
something not trivial but huge,
something made significant.
And they rose to find out what it was;
could not find out what it wasn’t,
could not find out what it had been,
could not discover what it might become.
But something had put a flurry in them;
something had stirred a wing to strike,
something had risen and sunk back.
And they wheeled once, twice
and again they landed,
settled back to where they had been,
folded their white wings, each to each
and went on being gulls again.
August Light is Pete Morgan’s first full-length collection of poetry since A Winter Visitor (1983), and its publication marks the thirtieth anniversary of his first pamphlet appearance from Arc – I See You on My Arm. Once
described in the TLS as ‘a genuine original’ by Edna Longley. Pete Morgan demonstrates in this new collection that he still retains the place claimed for him by Martin Booth writing in Tribune: ‘… one of the best social poets writing in this country.’
PETE MORGAN’s first full-length collection of poetry appeared from Secker & Warburg in 1973. In 1976 he was one of a team of six British poets invited to tour the United States as part of the American Bicentennial celebrations. He has also visited France and Spain under the auspices of the British Council. He has held a number of creative writing appointments, notably Arts Council Fellow in Poetry at the University of Loughborough.
Two further full-length collections have appeared from Secker and one from Ceolfrith Press. Pete Morgan currently lives in the East Yorkshire market town of Beverley.
FLURRY
Even the gulls were bitter mourners,
their stark cries were of desolation.
Jolted from the night to day
they rose from rock
and soared to light.
Something had come to some bleak ending,
something not trivial but huge,
something made significant.
And they rose to find out what it was;
could not find out what it wasn’t,
could not find out what it had been,
could not discover what it might become.
But something had put a flurry in them;
something had stirred a wing to strike,
something had risen and sunk back.
And they wheeled once, twice
and again they landed,
settled back to where they had been,
folded their white wings, each to each
and went on being gulls again.
August Light is Pete Morgan’s first full-length collection of poetry since A Winter Visitor (1983), and its publication marks the thirtieth anniversary of his first pamphlet appearance from Arc – I See You on My Arm. Once
described in the TLS as ‘a genuine original’ by Edna Longley. Pete Morgan demonstrates in this new collection that he still retains the place claimed for him by Martin Booth writing in Tribune: ‘… one of the best social poets writing in this country.’
PETE MORGAN’s first full-length collection of poetry appeared from Secker & Warburg in 1973. In 1976 he was one of a team of six British poets invited to tour the United States as part of the American Bicentennial celebrations. He has also visited France and Spain under the auspices of the British Council. He has held a number of creative writing appointments, notably Arts Council Fellow in Poetry at the University of Loughborough.
Two further full-length collections have appeared from Secker and one from Ceolfrith Press. Pete Morgan currently lives in the East Yorkshire market town of Beverley.