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Patrick B. Osada

Updated: Tue, 24 Jan 2017 06:42 pm

patrick.osada@yahoo.co.uk

www.poetry-patrickosada.co.uk

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Biography

Patrick B. Osada is a poet and editor, he writes reviews of poetry for magazines and is a member of the Management Team for SOUTH Poetry Magazine. His first collection, Close to the Edge was published in 1996 & won the prestigious ROSEMARY ARTHUR AWARD. He has previously published four collections of poetry, his fifth, and most recent is CHANGES (published by Dempsey & Windle January 2017) Patrick’s work has been widely published in magazines, anthologies and on the internet.. For more information about his work and a selection of his poetry, visit : www.poetry-patrickosada.co.uk What reviewers have said about Patrick Osada's previous collections : Short Stories : Suburban Lives “An intrepid and important new English voice." Will Daunt, Envoi Rough Music "This collection shows great strength of feeling and achievement...it has a substantial core of finely crafted poems which will stand the test of time." James Roderick Burns, New Hope International Review “Osada is a poet able to work with emotion, a poet who can take small events and small places, observe them precisely and elucidate them with a deft touch to reveal our shared humanity and the moments of connection." Jan Fortune-Wood, Coffee House Poetry Choosing the Route Patrick Osada is a poet who’s work has matured and settled wonderfully. His collection is wide-ranging in subject matter and every turn of the page brings new ideas and images that paint pictures in the mind…” Kevin Bailey, HQ Poetry Magazine ...And comments about Patrick's new collection, CHANGES Patrick's fifth collection explores the impact of change on every aspect of our lives, from seasonal effects to those specific to people and places. “CHANGES is a rich, varied collection, whose three sections, while distinct in tone and theme, complement each other in satisfying and often unexpected ways. 'Seasonal' is characterised by Osada's keen evocations of the natural world and celebration of seasonal variation. In 'At a Time of Unrest' the poet explores moments and places and their significance, embracing the darker sides of human experience with quiet yet compelling understatement. 'Keepsake' is more nostalgic and elegiac in tone and proves a fitting conclusion to this moving, memorable and, above all, deeply human collection of poems.” Jeremy Page, Editor The Frogmore Papers Writing about CHANGES, reviewer and poet David Ashbee says : "Patrick Osada has long been the master of traditional verse celebrating the natural world. Here he extends his range to the changing environment and, especially powerfully, his own family heritage." “A beautiful book about emotional weather, recording the bleak music of winter, wind and rain, loneliness and loss.” Andy Croft, Smokestack Books

Samples

All of the following poems are from CHANGES, published by Dempsey & Windle, 2017 DEATH of the POET Till now, he’d never thought of it before : how charity shops live off the dead. Taking a pride in what he gives away, her clothing clean and carefully pressed, four bin-bags mark the passing of a life. And life seems slight when it’s so easily packed away; her treasured possessions – aspects of her life – lose their relevance, separated from their owner’s past. Emptying shelves and drawers, he discovers nothing’s really owned by anyone – possessions outlast owners come what may and, in death, we desert them in the end. Leaving the shop, he hurries on his way, taking, as his keepsake, all her words. This poem first appeared in the Keystone Anthology (Dempsey & Windle) 2015 OFF THE MAP Less a road, more a country lane : orchard, farm and yard dogs barking. A figure slumped beneath low trees, sunlight glints along both barrels. A figure slumped beneath low trees, orchard, farm and yard dogs barking, possessions scattered all around : letters and photos in the breeze. His phone keeps ringing in the house, on the stove a kettle boils, letters and photos in the breeze, possessions scattered all around. A hole is where his smile had been – From apple tree, a robin singing – On the stove a kettle boils, his phone keeps ringing in the house. A hole is where his smile had been, sunlight glints along both barrels; from apple tree, a robin sings, orchard, farm and yard dogs bark. (This poem first appeared in Acumen). RISE / RECLINE Let down by new technology, like Icarus, you had to fall. Forgetting that you could not walk, forgetting how to work your chair; you planned how you would stand again and wriggled down that tilted seat onto frail legs, devoid of strength. Icarus flew too near the sun, your focus, to switch on the lamp, was equally a step too far. They found you face-down on the floor, collapsed and with a broken leg. The doctor said you were confused, the injury a threat to life for one unsure she’s ninety-one. VISITING (At Westbourne) Often we arrive to find you sleeping, but greet you with the news of what we’ve done, we talk of weather, highlights on our journey and check your room for signs of what’s gone on. Chocolates on your table mean a visit -- we’re pleased that others come when we’re not here; clothing on your chair is a good omen – perhaps the staff had taken you downstairs. On good days, blind eyes wake up smiling – your former, angry, vicious self is stilled; watching as this awful illness changed you – the self we knew is nowhere to be seen. At times, you believe you’ve been out walking – inhabiting the streets where family grew; taking your commode out on a coach trip revisiting the places that you knew. Sometimes you’re a girl back in the thirties - you've been with Mum & Dad all afternoon; then you’re back at school giving instructions, the taxis and the children will come soon. Teaching was your life and all those children still come to you for lessons…every one, in cupboards, behind curtains, they are waiting for visitors to leave this empty room.

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.

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