THE BIG RIP is a theory of the universe's end when all
matter disintegrates into elementary particles as the universe
expands and rips apart. In these deeply material poems,
Andy Brown engages with such cyclical images of growth
and decay, and traces of presence and absence, exploring the
gaps we find between ourselves and the world - gaps that
resonate with wonder and dis/belief.
Arranged into five suites of poems, the personal pieces in
The Family Whistle uncover family traces in photos, objects,
sayings and sounds, while those in the second, Dragonflies at
Le Pre, reflect the book's themes through the experiences of
a life lived between Brittany and Devon. Other poems dwell
outside in the environment, especially on rivers and
shorelines in Some Sayings About the River, or reflect an

abiding interest in ecology and the inhabitants of the non-
human world, in the fourth suite, Murmurations. In the title

section, The Big Rip, the poems converge again around
themes of presence and absence to reflect on one of the
book's recurring themes: how to reconcile a sense of
transcendence in a postreligious world.
Throughout, these poems pay homage to literary traces,
traditions, and influences, including versions of French
poems by Verlaine, Spanish poems by Borges, episodes from
Homer and Ovid, or poems written in response to the
works of others. The book begins with a whistle shaped by
the lips and ends with an affirmative image of lips framing
the word 'Yes' - in between, all is breath.


The Big Rip

What is that looming from the slanted nook
where ivy & nightshade have stretched their web
across the shattered windscreen of a cab?

Some rusting piece of farm machinery,
all levers & arms, spindles & tines -
a patient creature sleeping in the dark.

Its black recalls the skies under which it worked;
the slate roof under which its owner slept,
once he'd staked his fruit and winterized his bees;

or the rooks that sat on his wife's summerhouse;
the drapes of her dress for the harvest festival;
the cassock of the priest who laid them both to rest.

Now wrens have made their nests in its headlamps,
and wheals of rust spread-out like crusted skin,
but still the combine sits & waits it out...

ten trillion trillion trillion years from now...
for the day its weary atoms can return
to the bursting void from which they first emerged.

About the Author

ANDY BROWN is Professor of Creative & Critical
Writing at Exeter University. His recent poetry books
include Baikal Zen (Muscaliet Press, 2021), Casket
(Shearsman, 2019), Bloodlines (Worple, 2018) and Exurbia
(Worple, 2014). He also collaborated with Marc Woodward
on a collection of poems about music, Grace Notes (Sea
Crow Press, USA, 2023), and a collection of poems on the
archaeology and ecology of the River Teign, The Tin Lodes
(Indigo Dreams, 2020). His many previous books include
The Fool and the Physician (2012), Goose Music (with John
Burnside, 2008), and Fall of the Rebel Angels: Poems 1996-
2006 (2006), all with Salt Publishing.
He co-edited A Body of Work: An Anthology of Poetry and
Medicine (Bloomsbury, with Corinna Wagner, 2016) and
edited The Writing Occurs As Song: a Kelvin Corcoran Reader
(Shearsman, 2015). He has published a major study of
literary and artistic tree climbers, The Tree Climbing Cure
(Bloomsbury, 2023), and is a singer-songwriter and
performer with The Andy Brown Outfit, and with The
Escapees/SKPs. In 2024, Sea Crow Press published his
second novel, The Midnight Mechanic, a neo-Victorian tale of
water and waste, following his first, Apples & Prayers (Dean
Street, 2015), a story of Tudor rebellion. He lives between
Devon and Brittany with his wife and their horses and has
two grown children and two stepsons.

Reviews

'Warm, confident, assertive and humane poetry that has
plenty of longevity and gravitas, not to mention serious
poetic impulse.' Stride Magazine
'These are thoughtful poems...they linger in the mind.'
Tears in the Fence
'A class act. A virtuosic range of formal meters, tone and
diction that makes for an impressive collection.' The North
'A love of language and willingness to play with music,
meaning and the reader's expectations and perceptions.'
Poetry Review
'Smilingly human. A gentle humour pervades, almost
Eastern, imbuing the work with humanity and warmth.'
Shearsman
'Fine poems, varied in form and subject, assured in their
music and beautifully integrating thought and feeling.'
Wayfarers
'Mastering the calmness of a poetical line which bears the
past lightly in its arms.' Fortnightly Review
'A contemporary goliard with an emotional range. The aural
landscape that Brown creates is remarkable.' The Bow Wow
Shop
'Brown moves from the lyrical to the analytical with an
apparent seamlessness. The work here is full of quietly
startling moments.' Poetry Quarterly Review


'Vivid and tangible, there is a real wit that at times makes me
laugh out loud, a true learning, and a gentle humanity to
these tender-hearted poems that is genuinely moving.'
Lee Harwood
'One of our most interesting and exciting younger poets.
Work of assured and generous vision.' John Burnside
'A strong lyrical impulse; tender, precise and always mindful
[...] These are poems which are, in every way, suffused with
light.' Deryn Rees Jones



Book Information
ISBN 9781905208548
Author Andy Brown
Format Paperback
Page Count 88
Imprint Worple Press
Publisher Worple Press