Brushstrokes

Kate Rose's poetry is influenced by rural south-west France, where she has lived for the past 10 years. She finds the countryside a place of contrasts: of loneliness, death and destruction but also of kindness and hope. The desperate protagonists in 'Golden Cow', who fail to provide comfort to the mother of the dead calf. The cabbage whites and ryegrass in 'Disappearance' are discordant with the despair of the tractor driver. Yet the neighbour in 'Below the mountains', despite hardships, provides hope in her gift of cheese; the walker in 'Voice' rekindles a precious friendship she thought long gone.