“Archery in the UK” by Nick Reeves and Ingrid Wilson: A Review by Barbara Leonhard

If you are you looking for a poetry collection that will put a huge smile on your face, this is the book for you. Ingrid Wilson and Nick Reeves have created a book of contemporary lyrical poetry, the likes of which I haven’t seen. 

What began as a joint effort to collaborate on a book in homage to Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge ended up becoming a love story that unfolds in the slanted rays of sun peeking through the arc of rainbows, wind-blown trees, and birdsong chiming like cathedral bells in iambic rhythm and Pantoum refrains among other poetic forms.

The very title, Archery in the UK, points to their theme of connection. The word “archery” brings to mind Shakespeare’s “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”. Just as archery takes skill so does love. The archer has faced battles and overcome obstacles. In fact, the poems allude to “the storm debris of yesterday” (“The Archer’s Postcard”) and more than one reference to “wind-blown trees” in other poems. However, he is ready to awaken from this nightmare (“Prologue”) to open to a new love. The archer…

sees one glove in need of another, and another on the quay; 
two mirrors between stories in the Baltic Gallery

The archer’s arrow represents a readiness to take action for a new beginning, a new “dream”. These lovers are waking from a bad dream and “daring to dream” a new one. In “Winter Love”, Cupid startles the lovers into recognition in these lines.

The choir of angels tuned up
like a band
piping their song
of joy…

The collection of poems goes on to show “the conjoining of two souls”. In “Night Falls”, “an empty hand in glove holds onto something bigger than a dream”. The poems move from recognition of new love to sensual rebirth, “a nascent adventure” in which the archer enjoys “the arch of her lip, her wrist, her notation” (“Beneath Wrought Iron Ribs”).

The arrow quivers passionately now in “sheeted melodies” (“Her Frequency”) and “tomorrow bows her narrow back” (“Stippling”), alluding to a lasting love. In “Drawn”,

We bent toward the dawn in flower,
And, together, we were drawn

Trees and birds play a role in this love story. Linden trees, the sacred tree of Aphrodite, symbolize marital love. Juniper represents the strength, beauty, wisdom and protection of the fertility goddess Asherah, who was also believed to be God’s wife (Mother Nature). The archer’s lover, who had “sheltered her sheets between two wind-blown trees”, awakens to “a holy plainsong / where never sin, nor pain, nor wrong could be” (“Birdsong”). The lovers are paired like cooing doves.

The morning birdsong, wedding bells.

Finally, yew trees, Europe’s oldest tree, represent power, strength, longevity, and regeneration or resurrection. “Where the Yew Trees Grow” shows the archer’s training. Medieval English long bows were made of yew. Another name for juniper, by the way, is mountain yew. The yew tree imagery contributes to the theme of the regenerative power of new love despite “the knotted fingers, eyes faded”.

Reeves and Wilson marry their verses as each wrote an equal number of poems. Although the reader can discern the author in some of the poems as the archer is a male and his lover is a female, the lovers meld into one dream. In “The Wintered Queen”,

Their hearts, their art. Two arcs across the sky
inscribed within this book of poetry

The poems in this collection are not only masterfully designed to carry the story, theme, and nuances, but are also well ordered based on the development of the relationship from season to season with descriptive imagery and metaphor. The poems also bring the reader along to the places the lovers meet, even the most intimate ones. The pace of the poems definitely reaches a climax. I could say more, but I’ll quietly draw the curtains here. (Barbara Leonhard)

Nick Reeves rents an attic in the upper east corner of Penn Beacon. If he squints, the north sea rattles the weirdoes. He hums a vague melody and pockets paper scraps and treasure found in the street. He counts every magpie that he sees; last tally, 10. Which is not to be missed. His most recent publication credits include a chapter in Nothing Is More Real Than Nothing (Valley Press, 2022), Gleam’s Journal of the Cadralor (Issues IV and V), and Free Verse Revolution (Issue VIII).

Ingrid Wilson walks as she writes, and writes as she walks: sometimes rambling, often too fast, but always with purpose. She inhabits the Northlands and roams the borders looking for ley lines and keywords. She also publishes books. Her most recent publication credits include Free Verse Revolution (Issue VII), Gleam’s Journal of the Cadralor (Issue IV), and her debut poetry collection, 40 Poems At 40 (EIF, 2022).

Featured Image: Book Cover for Archery in the UK

Editor: Barbara Harris Leonhard

Amazon Best-Selling Author

Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (EIF-Experiments in Fiction, 2022)

Pushcart Nominee, 2022

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Divider Image: by GDJ on Pixabay

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