Speak Old Parrot

the long version

"The ventriloquist bird invoked at the beginning and end of Dannie Abse's new collection is bright-plumed but figitive. On its wing we enter a rich poetic landscape of real and imagined worlds, in which humour and tragedy appear in turn with startling vividness. At the autobiographical heart of this collection ... is a particular view of human possibilities, a delight in things seen and achieved and an awareness of the transience of it all."--Book jacket.