Rake

By Matthew Caley

Throughout Rake, Matthew Caley’s fifth collection, it can appear as if we are leafing through the oblique diary of an immortal time-travelling rake, one who is seeking his ‘one true beloved’ through an heroic tally of amorous encounters, desperately trying to get beyond appetite; or possibly a number of parallel immortal time-travelling rakes; or maybe even someone, having drunk too many espressos, imagining themselves to be such a rake. The forms used are equally promiscuous: tanka, sonnets, refrains, poems sifted from or alluding to Les Liaisons dangereuses or Barthes’ A Lover’s Discourse, versions of Baudelaire, Bonnefoy and Corbière, an ‘echo sonnet’, sonnet-strings, mono-rhymers, a ‘tonnet’ - hybrid of sonnet and tanka - and, most frequently, tanka used as a run-on stanza unit. Traversing the boudoirs of La Belle Époque, 80s Cold War Russia, ancient Egypt and the Wild West, to London 1910 or LA in the 1990s, but more often than not from these locations to the 24 hour neon of the contemporary city and back again in a micro-second, desire feeds lack (and vice versa) yet yearns for escape. What results is a series of beautiful, back-handed love poems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloodaxe Books
• Release date: Jan 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781780372822

Book preview

MATTHEW CALEY

RAKE

Throughout Rake, Matthew Caley’s fifth collection, it can appear as if we are glimpsing into the oblique diary of an immortal time-travelling rake, one who is seeking his ‘one true beloved’ through an heroic tally of amorous encounters, desperately trying to get beyond appetite; or possibly a number of parallel immortal time-travelling rakes; or maybe even someone, having drunk too many espressos, imagining themselves to be such a rake.

The forms used are equally promiscuous – tanka, sonnets, refrains, poems sifted from or alluding to Les Liaisons Dangereuses or Barthes’ Lover’s Discourse, versions of Baudelaire, Bonnefoy and Corbière, an ‘echo sonnet’, sonnet-strings, mono-rhymers, a ‘tonnet’ – hybrid of sonnet and tanka – and most frequently, tanka used as a run-on stanza-unit.

Traversing the boudoirs of La Belle Époque, 80s Cold War Russia, ancient Egypt and the Wild West to London 1910 or LA in the 1990s, but more often than not from these locations to the 24-hour neon of the contemporary city and back again in a micro-second, desire feeds lack (and vice-versa) yet yearns for escape. What results is a series of beautiful, back-handed love poems.

‘Formally outrageous, culturally light-fingered, Caley’s vision and wit make for poems that turn a wondrous, great lamp on the inter-relatedness of all things. An important poet.’ – John Stammers

‘Gleeful cultural cannibalism. Hauntingly lovely, immaculately constructed. Apparently is one of those collections which makes you see the world as suddenly more complex, strange and fascinating.’ – Imogen Robertson, PBS Online

‘Satirically playful, self-parodic, yes, but unable to conceal an emotional intelligence that lends depth and vulnerability to Caley’s voice even at moments of humour.’ – Jane Holland, Poetry Review

Cover photograph by Kieron Baroutchi

Matthew Caley

RAKE

for Pavla –

a cellophane trumpet full

of garage forecourt flowers

i.m. Frances Caine Hobson

[1926–2012]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledgements are due to the editors and programmers of the following anthologies, periodicals, publications, websites and wavelengths where some of these poems, or versions of them, first appeared: The Best British Poetry 2013 (Salt Publishing, 2013), Black Light Engine Room, www.broadcastpoetry.co.uk, Café Review (Portland, USA), The Echo Room, Follow the Trail of Moths: The