Birds Knit My Ribs Together

<blockquote>what if</blockquote><blockquote> I actually - am - a bird</blockquote><blockquote> my cupped hands</blockquote><blockquote> opening to release me...</blockquote><p>Phil Barnett's relationship with birds in particluar 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 occasionally imagines himself as a bird.</p><p>Phil 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 <em>The Daily Haiku</em>. 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.</p><blockquote><em>Birds Knit my Ribs Together</em> is a heart-clenchingly beautiful healing in words. Birds nature and man exist as one in this stunning collection. Reading these powerful poems is a meditative journey from a lost jigsaw piece of sky [...] with scar tissue dreams and eyes like a drowned village ('Wounds') to on every twig of every branch / buds tiny resurrections ('A willow's word') taking in many wonders along the way.</blockquote><blockquote class=ql-align-right><em>Sarah James; poet fiction writer and journalist</em></blockquote><blockquote class=ql-align-right><em> </em></blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>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.</blockquote><blockquote class=ql-align-right><em>Jane Lovell poet</em></blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>An arresting sensory acutely observed and deeply poignant poetry. There is a uniquely tender and magical alchemy here that is instantly enchanting between the sharing of a personal narrative around a debilitating illness and the transformative power of being in nature pertinently amongst birds. Here is an exciting and imaginative poetic voice that is soft yet powerful - utterly beautiful.</blockquote><blockquote class=ql-align-right><em>Amanda White The Daily Haiku</em></blockquote><blockquote class=ql-align-right><em> </em></blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>Phil Barnett refreshes our sense of wonder at the natural world his poems both tender and playful are like secrets shared.</blockquote><blockquote class=ql-align-right><em>Charlotte Keatley playwright</em></blockquote><blockquote class=ql-align-right><em> </em></blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>The poems reside in nature but Phil resides within them and their flesh is readable. It's like he's tattooed them on his chest.</blockquote><p class=ql-align-right>Chris Packham Naturalist and TV Presenter</p><p><br></p>