?You have to start somewhere / in these morose times' begins the title sequence of this collection, in which the dual, duelling lifeguards of east and west, sunrise and sunset, glib Narcissus and one-eyed Polyphemus, watch over a collection that explores the contradictions between life's pool-side surfaces and frightening undertows. Ian Wedde's poet laureate collection, dedicated to his grandchildren Bella and Sebo, opens with a major new series ?The Lifeguard', and finishes with a second long sequence, ?Shadow Stands Up', in which a world of Platonic memory and tidal recurrence is observ |