A review of The IRON Book of Tree Poetry

Just before writing these words, I have seen a post on social media that a Climate Clock has been installed in New York's Union Square which shows how much time we are far from another massive crisis. However, I have not checked the facts yet and honestly I don't have the mood to Google it right now. It's raining outside, and I want to invest this time only on writing while listening to the thunderstorms. If you know about the Climate Clock do inform me the details in the comment section. I really appreciate the idea of installing the Climate Clock, and I think all the major cities in the world should have a Climate Clock. It will act as a wake-up call for us, the homo sapiens. I don't know why we keep forgetting that trees play a major role in our survival on this planet, but we hardly care about them. Coincidently I completed reading an anthology themed on trees last night. Let's discuss it. 

The name of the anthology is The IRON Book of Tree Poetry, and it is published by Iron Press. This book contains poetries of almost fifty well and lesser-known contemporary UK poets. Eileen Jones and Peter Mortimer have edited this anthology. There are forty-nine poems in this book and its page count is sixty-five. The collection includes a vivid foreword by the celebrated writer, woodsman and traveller Max Adams. The introduction by the co-editors tells the story behind publishing this anthology.

Unlike other book reviewers, I hardly give importance to the author or publisher's reputation while reading and reviewing a book. I keep intact my focus on the content and that is the reason I write less about the author or publisher in my reviews. Before reading this collection, I was precarious about being able to read good quality poems even though Iron Press is a reputed publishing house which has been in this field for almost forty-seven years.

But Vicky Arthurs' The Counsel of Trees has given me the assurance that reading this book will not be a waste of time. It tells us that we can live our lives happily with minimum expectations. Considering trees as a medium, he has beautifully torched his philosophy of life into this poem. This is my most favourite poem in this book. 

I enjoyed reading Linda France's Atlas Cedar the most. Anyone can have a strong vocabulary archive, but not everyone knows how to and where to use them. Linda has beautifully used the words in her poem and gifted the readers a good reading experience. 

The poem which created illusions after illusions in my mind is Ken Cockburn's The Ash Grove. It took me some time to understand and feel this poem.

In her poem Desert Trees of Rajasthan, Rebecca Gethin portrays a tragic incident that happened in 1730. Well, you have to read the poem to know more about it.

This book can be suggested to anyone who loves poetry. Since there are so many contributing poets, a reader will be fortunate to see how we can dissect one subject from different dimensions. It will help those poets, who have recently started their journey in this field. I didn't notice any vulgar or profane words in this poetry collection. So it can be recommended to the minors also. The book is available on Amazon and other major retailers. 

Now let's put this anthology in our three dimensional review system and see what comes out. 

Writing Style: I am giving three out of four stars in this section. The poets wrote their poems giving the best of their skills. But some of them tried to grab attention by putting attractive titles. Unfortunately, those poems couldn't grip that attention. I am not saying that those poems are not good, but not as good as I expected them to be. 

Reading Experience: I was in ecstasy while reading this collection. I felt like I was on a roller coaster. Some poems drove my emotions to a peak whereas some poems pulled it down. I am giving four out of four stars. 

Overall Rating: Four out of four stars. This anthology is a festival of thoughts centered around one subject- trees. The poems inside it are gems for mankind. 

This review is a part of the blog tour organised by Fly on the Wall Press. I would like to thank Isabelle Kenyon for giving me the opportunity to read this fantastic collection of poems. 

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