Give the Bard a Tetanus Shot – V.C. McCabe

 

*I received a free ARC of this book, with thanks to the author. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

 

 

 

 

Blurb:  Give the Bard a Tetanus Shot reveals the reality of rural life with elements of the surreal. Comforts of country living are juxtaposed with poverty, domestic violence, the opioid epidemic, and environmental destruction both natural and man-made. 

 

 

 

 

 

V.C. McCabe writes the kind of poetry that you read and re-read, picking over the word choices and parsing the meaning to wring every last drop out of her exquisitely drawn word-pictures.

The overarching theme of this collection is modern and rural Appalachia: childhoods of sugared snow, and rusting trolleys in the car park of the local supermarket.  Many of the poems feature natural or industrial disasters, and others paint brighter pictures of comfort, nostalgia and rising to the challenges of surviving in this bitter modern world.

What stands out most here is the writing.  McCabe painstakingly selects exactly the right words and makes them dance for her pen, to fall into exactly the right places.  Poetry lovers will want to devour this collection whole, over and over again, to savour the taste of every word.

Very highly recommended!

 

The trees were the first to feel it,
boughs bent, swirling furious fists
of lush foliage, twirling green leaves
up to reveal silvery underbellies,
the surest sign of brewing rain.

– V.C. McCabe, from ‘the Stone Age’ in Give the Bard a Tetanus Shot

 

 

Find more from V.C. McCabe at her website here, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads.

Give the Bard a Tetanus Shot is available on Amazon right now!

 

 

 

 

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