I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while, so I’m doubly delighted to say that this week’s drop in is by Pratibha Castle to reflect on her impressive debut collection, A Triptych of Birds & A Few Loose Feathers.

This poem, which first appeared on One Hand Clapping a couple of years back, and later in Spilling Cocoa Over Martin Amis, like many of my poems, was inspired by an image from childhood.

I was with my father one morning when he was digging a plot of earth. While he took a break, a robin turned up. Not unusual, when there is a chance of worms. There was, of course, a spade. My father’s name was Patrick. St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, is indeed rumoured to have driven the snakes from the isle of Poets and Bards. But my mother was the one who left…