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Poems Reflecting on the Mind, Life, Nature and Space
By Marc Latham
ISBN: 978-1-84991-023-1
Published: 2009
Pages: 112
Key Themes: poetry, bipolar disorder, politics, science
Description
This book of poems owes as much inspiration to rock music as poetry. The early poems in the collection were inspired by rock lyrics rather than poetry, with songs proclaiming the twisted effects of bipolarity, schizophrenia, paranoia, alienation and just downright depression by the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Metallica, Rose Tattoo, Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies mixed with the trash escapism of Faster Pussycat and Motley Crue.
In recent years the raw anarchy of the early poems was harnessed within the Folding Mirror form created by Marc Latham; of which there are many examples in this collection. The form may have been influenced by bipolarity, as it calls for two sides of a poem to mirror each other either side of a folding middle line, as bipolar moods swing either side of the fine line of normality somewhere in the mind. It is therefore ideal for highlighting two sides of a personality or mood.
The subject matter and style isn’t limited to the mind and serious introspection though, and the poems range across almost all the topics imaginable: from politics and myth to ocean depths and the outer limits of space; and the seasons of the year and high mountain peaks to football and comedy.
About the Author
Dr. Marc Latham was born in St. Helier, Jersey in 1965 and now lives in Leeds. Marc spent his teens in Wales and was an avid fan of heavy metal music; he did his utmost to emulate his rock n’ roll heroes’ life on the edge once he started boozing and partying. The hedonistic lifestyle was continued across the world in his twenties and in university for his thirties.
This kept him feeling normal while it lasted, but once a couple of generations had pretty much given it up to live ‘normal’ lives Marc began to realise that he wasn’t really that ‘normal’. Being treated as an outsider by a university department in his own country that espoused the values of equality and diversity just brought matters to a head.
Television documentaries alerted Marc to conditions such as ADHD and bipolarity, and he decided to try and take himself out of mainstream society through a freelance writing career. This had always been one ambition anyway.
Book Extract
Introduction
Let me take you on a journey, to the centre of my mind.
The early poems in this collection were inspired by rock lyrics rather than poetry, with songs proclaiming the twisted effects of bipolarity, schizophrenia, paranoia, alienation and just downright depression by the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Metallica, Rose Tattoo, Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies mixed with the trash escapism of Faster Pussycat and Motley Crue.
I spent my mental weeks in grungy Seattle, so I tried to escape to LA on the weekends. My wild role models could have helped kill me, but they may also have kept me alive by giving me something to live for. Being able to go crazy on the weekend and release all the pent up feelings kept me feeling normal for much of the time, but I still felt different and knew that my future would not run as smoothly as that of most people.
After I finished studying and left with the ambition of becoming a freelance writer I didn’t really think poetry would play a major part. Learning that there wasn’t much money to be made in poetry should have been the final nail in its coffin for me, but instead it got a grip, and I have probably focused more on poetry than anything.
This is mainly because of the Folding Mirror form I created; of which there are many examples in this collection. Or maybe it’s evidence of ADD and my need for shorter and simpler works. The form may have been influenced by bipolarity, as it calls for two sides of a poem to mirror each other either side of a folding middle line, as bipolar moods swing either side of the fine line of normality somewhere in the mind. It is therefore ideal for highlighting two sides of a personality or mood.
I hope you enjoy this collection. I’ve thrown everything but the kitchen sink in to make it up to 100 pages, although I only needed 80 to get it published. Some early poems have been updated to Folding Mirrors, but I hope you’ll consider it value for money (that’s if you pay for it; it should definitely be otherwise!). I created the cover photo using Photo Impact.
Thanks to Caroline Gill, Sarah James, Marit Meredith, Wendy Webb and all those who have created Folding Mirror poems for getting the form off the ground. Cheers also to the bands and poets who’ve inspired me and the people and animals who’ve helped me on my journey through life. And to those who’ve tried to bring me down: c’est la vie!
As I was making final edits I read a book about dream wisdom and shamanism, and it explained that the symptoms of many of today’s mental health issues were considered being touched by the gods in old cultures. I’ll leave you with that thought, and you can make up your own mind about me from the poetry.
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Caroline Gill (verified owner) –
I am wanting to post a review on my blog, and hoping to post it (or part of it) here. Please may I have permission to quote from the book for this purpose?
My email: coastcard@gmail.com
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Caroline Gill (verified owner) –
Bipolarity and ADHD to Folding Mirrors: Poems reflecting on the Mind, Life, Nature and Space
Author: Dr Marc Latham
ISBN: 978-1-84991-023-1
Published: 2009, eBook: 112 pages
Publisher: chipmunkapublishing, the mental health publisher
Website: http://chipmunkapublishing.co.uk
Price: £5 (pdf download)
‘Let me take you on a journey, to the centre of my mind.’
Marc Latham
This reviewer first became acquainted with Dr Marc Latham through his GreenyGrey website, in which he explains how his concept of the GreenyGrey ‘encapsulates the dominant natural colours of the British landscape, with the land predominantly green, and the mountains, rivers, sea and sky usually grey.’ Marc’s early poems in the eBook were inspired by rock lyrics on the subject of bipolarity, schizophrenia, paranoia, alienation and depressive illness.
Marc knew that writing was a definite ambition, but it was his creation of Folding Mirror poems that led to his increasing activity as a published poet. His Folding Mirror pieces are formed around a folding middle line. They reflect aspects of the bipolar moods swings that represent both sides of what Marc describes as ‘the fine line of normality somewhere in the mind’. Football matches (with two sides and two halves), reflections, horizons and equinoxes have all been given the Folding Mirror treatment, along with science, artists (e.g. Constable and Blake) and a host of other subjects.
Early poems, prior to the Folding Mirror ones, demonstrate Marc’s understanding of traditional poetry techniques. The World Beyond Reality, for example, employs rhyming couplets and is structured in quatrains. Other pieces make use of poetic repetition and alliteration: the phrase ‘cirrus castellanus clouds’ occurs in Cloudy Sunset. Pain is a recurring Leitmotif, but Marc is not afraid to explore positive aspects alongside the stark realities. He asserts that he wants to ‘develop’ and ‘seek to grow’, ‘using pain to create’.
Some poems demonstrate the poet’s anger and frustration: others highlight moments of great beauty. Marc has an infectious affinity with the natural world in all its wild and wonderful manifestations. This reviewer’s personal favourite, Swan Summer Serenade, evokes a magical scene:
Tangerine beaks
are raised and lowered
like snakes charmed
unharmed
in a solar haze…
Marc longs to spread what this reviewer might venture to call his ‘GreenyGrey’ manifesto. He is prepared to communicate his eco-warrior message in unique and arresting ways:
So goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Manatee
it was nice eating you.
(From Nice to Eat You Mr. And Mrs. Manatee)
‘Poetry’, Marc declares, ‘inspires one to learn a little about many things’, and this collection certainly challenges the reader’s perception of what is black and white – and green and grey.
Caroline Gill, 2010
Caroline is a member of Disability Arts Cymru, and has six poems in Hidden Dragons/Gwir a Grymus: New Writing by Disabled People in Wales, ed. Allan Sutherland and Elin ap Hywel (Parthian 2004).
Dr Marc Latham’s websites:
GreenyGrey http://www.greenygrey.co.uk/
Folding Mirror Poetry http://fmpoetry.wordpress.com/