Zen Cymru by Peter Finch (Seren) J. BROOKES
Peter Finch used to run the best bookshop in the western world. Upstairs at HMSO, the Friary, you could find pamphlets that hadn’t been opened since they left the Roneo in 1963, when their authors had died, gone mad or into advertising. Now of course, the Friary is a bistro and Peter Finch has swept south to administer the academi.
I read Peter Finch’s latest collection, Zen Cymru, in one sitting on a warm Spring
afternoon in Alexandra Gardens. And this is important, I thought afterwards, walking into town to deposit a cheque, for how often is it possible to do that, in the warm Spring sun or otherwise? And what might it mean?
I ran through the possibilities as I queued in the Nationwide: I. That Finch is essentially a performance poet, and thus simply must be immediately accessible?
II. That Finch is essentially a local poet, and thus his concerns must be, to us who live in Cardiff/ Wales, at least topographically interesting?
III. That Finch has written so many books that poetry book-production has become as smooth an operation as an advertising campaign?
IV. That Finch aims low, using potted references to IKEA and Elvis and other such ‘icons’ that are pre- programmed to raise a laugh?
V. That in reading Finch there is always the pleasant thought that one might hear one’s own name in passing? VI. That Finch uses language so well that forward propulsion is unavoidable?
VII. That Finch really can convey the knee-shaking horror of investigative prostate procedures, the death of those close to us, love on the skids, etc? VIII. That Finch’s interest in being alive in the 21st century is rampant and catching? IX. That Finch writes poems that are, quite simply, good enough to want to read in one sitting? X. That Finch…but here a teller called and, rebate from the gas-board in hand, I stepped forward.
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