In the opening poem to Gaynor Kane’s ‘Venus in Pink Marble she describes her poems as being held in ‘fragile, translucent hulls’ that dissolve ‘before they reach the skyline’. In doing so she undersells her collection. ‘Venus in Pink Marble’ is packed with vibrant, resonant poetry that will live long in the consciousness of this reader.

The collection is divided into three parts. The first part ‘The Lock’ explores the present and past history of her homeland and its impact upon the writer and its people. She describes an urban landscape of industrial decay: Belfast’s thriving and prosperous industry is no more leaving ‘Industrial bones in the landscape’ and ‘Stagnant water’s slow-flow framework/where once it was dynamic’ (‘Echoes’). Its fragility is beautifully captured in her account of how a rat brought the city’s transport system to a halt by chewing through a cable…