dogs barking in the distance

John Blackhawk lived in India and England before migrating to Australia. Previously he worked as a teacher in Sydney. These days home is Umina Beach on the New South Wales Central Coast. He currently works as a canine behavioural therapist. Dogs have become a major part of his life. They pervade his poetry as does the beautiful coastal scenery where he lives. This is his second book of poetry the first being Against the Currents (Ginninderra Press 2010).In dogs barking in the distance John Blackhawk records his experience of an imperfect world a world made bearable by the beauty of nature music and his companions. He gifts his readers with a considered view of places and people both unique and universal. With a keen eye for detail he traces both his geographical and his minds wanderings across an international and political landscape just reconnoitring for the day when it wont have to return. His wry turn of phrase at its most sardonic when he speaks of himself slices through the sheer overwhelming scope of life articulating the bewilderedness we all have some sense of and we too are undone walking through this existential imagery. - Kelly Blaney-MurphyJohns poems have tremendous scope ranging from microscopic observations of life to grand reflections on evolution. These are gritty poems of a life lived in everyday moments which reveal their true meaning under the poets forensic eye. In this collection words weave stories with craft to draw the reader into a multilayered world equally fascinated by the unusual and the mundane. From warm funny bittersweet stories of childhood to the realities of everyman who has experienced displacement desolation and loss Johns voice is sure and deft.- Liz MacnamaraJohn Blackhawks multilayered work is at once accessible to the casual reader and sophisticated and complete enough to intrigue and entice those seeking deeper contemplation of word and phrase. He is worthy of reading and rereading.- Peter StuckeyJohn will immerse you in his world and then youll be surprised by your journey. - Julia TellingVerse with the power of the jet stream delivered from an ocean of tales of pithy erudition. - Bob Douglas