Fransesca Stewart wrote of his Abundance: New & Selected Poems (2020, Poiema/Cascade) in Westerly Magazine from the University of Western Australia,
-----“Abundance offers a rich and varied view of the world through
-----Lansdown’s eyes. By noticing the miraculous and the mundane,
-----and with an ever-present awareness of the passing of time,
-----these poems pay attention to ordinary life and bring a captivating
-----intensity of presence and emotion. Lansdown… by turning the poetic
-----gaze upon himself… displays acute self-awareness and disarming
-----vulnerability in observing his mind, emotions and reactions to life.”
With his new poetry collection, Andrew Lansdown becomes even more publicly vulnerable. Here he carries us through all the heartache of losing loved ones — the death of three brothers, his wife’s miscarriage, and the final farewell to a dearly loved mother and father. For the rest of us, who have experienced varying degrees of the same thing — or who soon will — The Farewell Suites is an eloquent reminder that in this we are not alone.
I am honoured to have worked with Andrew as his editor for both of these books.
Lamplight
The lamp of the Lord—
that’s how the word of the Lord
describes the spirit of a man.
And looking at my father
sunken into his deathbed
I sense and see the truth of it.
Now his spirit has returned
(a little ruined, a lot redeemed)
to the Lord who gave it,
how dark it is, his body,
how utterly given over
to bleakness and blackness,
its lamplight all extinguished.
Posted with permission of the poet.
*This is the third Kingdom Poets post about Andrew Lansdown: first post, second post.
Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the author of five poetry collections including Angelicus (2021, Cascade) ― a book of poems written from the point-of-view of angels. His books are available through Wipf & Stock.