Neck of the Woods

'Peter Makin’s precision in describing natural settings and phenomena, from the coast of Lincolnshire to Kyoto, either with the breadth of distance or as if through a magnifying glass, is remarkable in itself; but in the selection, ordering and juxtaposition of subject matter Makin manages to combine the eye of the scientist, the compositional acumen of the Zen-inspired ink painters of the Sengoku era and the sensibility of a traditional Japanese poet of tanka and haiku. The singular force behind this collection of poems is loss and grief, the expressions of which drift in and out of the poems, as if emerging then receding behind the clouds, usually in the form of glimpsed memory. Neck of the Woods is an extended elegy, a most unique and beautiful one. The care Makin brings to his description of the natural feels, in its intensity, as if the memory of and abiding love for the person lost had somehow been transferred to the physical world around him, thus serving almost as a tribute or memorial. This is very moving poetry.' (August Kleinzahler)