A to B began as a poem about a journey: it became a journey in itself, a collection that travels through emotions and places, unfolding to the rhythms of discovery and memory. Places and people reveal their secrets; fragile bonds of love link past to present.

In the book’s first part, an elusive pattern is glimpsed in fragments: a plane climbs into a clear evening sky, the year turns to spring, a father’s voice is remembered after his death. The second part is marked by meticulous observation. A man watches daylight creep across a room. And the concluding section celebrates a quality of silence in which imagination grows.

Gerry McGrath extends our understanding of what it is to travel through the world.



CONTENTS



I

Higher 13

No End of Exile 14

Magpie 15

Steady 16

Sycamores 17

Weight 18

A Question 19

Sleep Alights 20

Baby Spuds 21

Early Flowers 22

Overnight 23

In No Time 24

Only Life 25

A Man Unable 26



II

Pointing North 29

The Colour of Water 30

Dry Flood 31

Phenomenon 32

True Air 33

Midsummer 34

Busy 35

Secrets 36

Old Masters 37

Gift 38

Limits 39

Whispers 40

Anstruther 41

Dead House 42

Same Bird 43

Shape of a Chair 44

Anklet 45

No Forgetting 46

Still 47

Particles 48

Soft Tissue 49

Among the Blue 50

Calling 51

Baci 52

The Language of Pines 53

The Water, the Shore 54

Invisible 55

Brief Season 56

Watching Primrose 57

Dishwater 58

A Sense of Occasion 59

Promise 61



III

The Middle Distance 65

Small Fires 66

A Milky Sunlight 67

Two Friends 68

Mint Tea 69

Blue Light 70

Basics 71

Morning 72

Forest Path 73

Bright Walkway 74

The Painter 75

Island 76

Currency 77

Yellow Ticket 78

First Detail 79

Introductions 80

A to B 81

Powder Blue 82

Imaginable Longing 83

Small Hand 84

First Love 85

Lately 86

Tilleul 87

Around the Edge 88

Cities 89

White Rain 90

In Loving Memory 91

Younger 92

Green Shallows 93