A Word from the Loki

Maurice Riordan's subjects are often homely: family excursions and rows, items of food or furniture. But the rueful, story telling voice carries one into unexpected territory - the plight, perhaps, of two children waking up after the accidental death of their parent, or the way of life of an entire community which on occasion will take to the treetops to sing. These poems have an unusual, near-scientific alertness to the terms of our physical destiny and they address, in measured, lyrical tones, the pathos of the human adventure.