what if / I actually - am - a bird / my cupped hands / opening to release me... Phil Barnett's relationship with birds is so close that his poetry blurs the distinctions between himself and the birds - a kind of ornimorphology where rather than giving the birds human characteristics, the reverse happens, and he imagines himself as a bird. Phil Barnett is a photographer, writer, musician, artist and naturalist, who has a passion for the birds that kept him company through a long hard illness. His photography and poetry have quite a following on social media, which is where we found him, on The Daily Haiku. His skill as a photographer leads to an acute visual sensibility, and his slow recovery moves from a tick sheet his mother had to fill in for him, to extraordinary poetry - full of wit and wonder and spectacular language.

"Here is an exciting and imaginative poetic voice that is soft yet powerful - utterly beautiful." Amanda White

About the Author
A decade long stretch of illness largely confined Phil Barnett to a living room. His patch was the view through the window. He had swapped the people, job, relationships and fully working body of his previous life, for a garden full of birds. It was made bearable by his fascination with all things avian. It would be only a slight exaggeration to say that he spent 10 years looking out of a window. He recorded and documented everything, producing a website. Although still affected by illness Phils daily walks take him around an area of fairly ordinary countryside in South Lancashire, producing both poetry and photography that is anything but ordinary.

Reviews
These poems are windows onto moments of a life steeped in nature. At once perceptive and full of wonder, they captivate with a uniqueness and vibrancy, just as the sudden surprise of birds can startle us from our myopic existence. Jane Lovell



Book Information
ISBN 9781913665913
Author Phil Barnett
Format Paperback
Page Count 50
Imprint Arachne Press
Publisher Arachne Press