The Smell of Purple by Dónall Dempsey
is available from this page. Full details can be found here
(www.dempseyandwindle.com)
is available from this page. Full details can be found here
(www.dempseyandwindle.com)
ISBN: 978-1-907435-19-5
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Reviews of The Smell of Purple:
John Sexton, poet and songwriter, writes: One of Dónall Dempsey’s great intuitive strengths as a poet is his empathy with the people of his childhood, but most specifically his empathy with the child he once was. Some of his strongest poems work as they do because they nail down the immediacy of the universal experience of being young and innocent. ... ... These intuitive strengths are at the forefront of Dempsey’s latest collection, The Smell of Purple. This entire book is the author’s journey through fatherhood, but a fatherhood that becomes an extraordinary selfhood as child. Once again we become blind with the seeing of the poet, journey with him through the wonders of fatherhood, become mentors of the child of the poems, marvel at the purity and vivid imagining of the child’s mind; become, essentially, children ourselves in the perfectly-visioned childhood perspective of this delightful collection. Pages: 98
Binding: Perfect-bound Paperback Interior Ink: Black & white Weight: 0.2 kg Dimensions (centimetres): 15.24 wide x 22.86 tall |
RRP. £9.00 We include postage to UK in that price (we regret this is no longer available to buyers outside UK)
Paul Sutherland, poet,editor and reviewer, writes:
'Dónall Dempsey has created in The Smell of Purple a poignant evocation of childhood, that moment when a child discovers for the first time the world with its beauty and pain. In The Smell of Purple Dónall lets the child give voice to these discoveries. He records how Tilly, the three year old of the poems, speaks in ways, with a range, that suggest
nothing less than the source of the poetry. Donall provides a framework, a context to help the reader receive her extraordinary expressions - true and absurd, insightful, elegant and passionate.
The Smell of Purple becomes a dialogue between two poets - Tilly and Dónall - who together explore a place where delicate understanding and misconceptions can take place. In 'Tilly in Wonderland', Dónall draws in a third party Charles Dobson (Lewis Carroll) to help adults follow Tilly's encounter with a mirror. Looking at her image in the glass she celebrates the wonder of seeing herself then turning the mirror she exclaims the image is 'gone', her self lost. Dónall glues a mirror to the dark side and Tilly calls the first image, 'Me' and the reverse 'Me Me'. And her cat becomes 'Cat Cat'. Her logic, as in Wonderland, is indisputable.
The UN asserts children must not be deprived of childhood. Dónall gives us a glimpse of the importance of those fragile and profound years of innocence. If family court officers in this country read such a book, they might have some idea what the welfare of the child really means. They might learn to listen to a child's hidden needs and value his or her secret reality above their legal cant and bias towards one parent over another that drags children into bitter conflicts
depriving them of childhood opening wounds that take a lifetime to heal. This book praises and grieves. It shows the frailty in an adult's bond with a child, the pain that separation brings; it reveals a child's strange bond with childhood
itself that led Wonderland's Alice to despair and a need to flee back to normality.
'A Cat in the Hat': hats off to Dónall for bringing alive that prospect of childhood, reminding us of our need to respond in all seriousness, with imagination, and with love, when a child gives his or her love.'
Poems from The Smell of Purple by Dónall Dempsey
TILLY IN WONDERLAND
Slowly…she studies the mirror. Slowly...she studies (herself) in the mirror. Suddenly she darts behind the mirror amazed to find the image of her “... gone! ” Cries to herself she’s lost herself. Next day I superglue two mirrors together so that now she exists…whichever side she is! She calls herself “Me! ” on this side & “Me! Me! ” on the other. Her mother wonders why Tilly (my little Alice) only answers now to the name “Me! Me!” She explains to her cat this new found fact of her two-ness. |
THE SMELL OF PURPLE
She says she can smell yellow. She says she can smell blue. despite not being able to spell either colour. “Yellow smells the same as blue.” “...like a wet kitty drying by the fire.” “Red smells like Mummy when she kisses. Her kisses smell different when she kisses you... ...then she smells like flames with little orange tips! Purple is my favourite smell... ...it smells just like a magic spell!” I kiss her goodnight like violet (only lighter) with little flecks of purple scattered here & there. |