Lady Godiva and Me
A sequence of poems about the City of Coventry, moving from the historical Godgifu and her husband Earl Leofric, via the legend of Godiva to the present day.
Lady Godiva and Me
From reviews of the first edition: 'Guilar has brought together a cast of characters that speak out of history and from the present time, real people who live and breathe with engaging frankness. They are varied in personality, held here in small jewels of poetry that sparkle with wit and strength. These are people worth meeting'. Joanna M. Weston Poetryreview Ca. 'I am impressed by the writing, which demands full and careful attention. To read these poems, the reader must inhabit the world, or the voices, of the writing; must engage with the rhythms, and the spare poetic structures.
The poems are conversational, in the sense that they are made to be read aloud as well as on the page; but their sometimes declaratory structures are tight and taut without being confining'. Bronwyn Levy Review of Lady Godiva and Me.
Extract from the book
For Lady G.
When they say that you should stay indoors;
ride on.
When they claim this world cannot be yours;
ride on.
Though they build their words around you,
definitions to confound you,
step out and trust yourself,
then ride on.
The person they’re describing can’t be you.
You’re always so much more than what you do.
In your thinking and your actions
there is beauty, not in factions.
Trust the judgment you’ve developed,
and ride on
Frightened strangers in their shuttered rooms;
ride on,
past the priests predicting that you’re doomed;
ride on.
Reject all binary oppositions,
as unthinking superstitions,
step out, and trust yourself,
and then ride on