House Anthems

'Not far away, outside a lighted house.'

The final collection in Ralph Dartford's 'Recovery Trilogy' sees the poet meditating on the tragic death of his beloved brother, Joseph, and how he lived in the mythical house of England: a nation of waving flags seen through soft focus sunlight. Here are his people, their misfitting tales that scratch and count the bricks of a private island imprisoned within its own walls, rituals and loneliness.

Warm and lyrical, visceral in its fury, but finally resolute in its ceaseless quest for love and tenderness, this concluding collection dances the demand for better days - that we all must have the opportunity to recover and sing together. Whatever the cost to the crumbling mortar of old Albion.

Ralph Dartford hails from Basildon in Essex, and now lives in West Yorkshire, having got there via Australia, Barcelona, and Los Angeles. His first collection, Recovery Songs, was published by Valley Press in 2019, and Hidden Music followed in 2021. Ralph is the poetry editor at Northern Gravy and is studying for a Creative Writing PhD at the University of Huddersfield, where his practice and research is concentrated on the working-class poetry of the twenty-first century. For gainful employment, Ralph works as a project manager and educator for the National Literacy Trust within the Criminal Justice team.