by Candlestick Press.

Spring can creep up on us; it’s easy to miss the early signs that a new season is on the way. In her lyrical evocation of a pond on Dartmoor, leading naturalist Miriam Darlington pays close and loving attention to the quiet changes that take place – from the first shoots of flag iris to the “shivery delta” of frogspawn as it starts to wriggle with tadpoles.

There is an abiding sense of the enriching connection between humans and the wild landscape:

“The moor in spring can be an absorbent place. It takes you and your mood and enfolds you beneath its wing. Low sun brushed the grass tips, and in the pearly sky something subtle was happening. It was reflected in the water surface that was all a-glimmer, shining cloud on cloud as if sending it all back skywards…”

This beautiful pamphlet will delight readers at any time of year – a reminder that nature is always there, waiting to beguile us with its wonders.

Poems by Diana Hendry and Edward Thomas.

Cover illustration by Sarah Young.

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing beautiful ‘Instead of a card’ poetry pamphlets. Based in Nottingham in the UK, they’ve been making their mini-anthologies since 2008. Their pamphlets are supplied with an envelope for posting, a bookmark for a special message and an ‘Instead of a card’ sticker to seal the back of the envelope for a lovely finishing touch. All items are collated in a biodegradable cellophane wrapper which is certified to the European (EN13432) norm for industrially compostable packaging and by Vincotte to the OK BIOBASED standard for sustainable, biodegradable film. All their pamphlets are printed in the UK on FSC-accredited paper.