David O'Meara's NOBLE GAS, PENNY BLACK

Though narrative detail is important in his work, David O'Meara is a poet of evocative mood. "I Used to Live Around Here" is a good example. Nothing much happens, yet everything matters. O'Meara's able to mesmerise through inner states -- the way a mind reflects on loss and regret and muted enjoyment -- into present images. That's why I respectfully disagree with his claim in "Root Cellar", where "We're tourists/to our past for the little/we come here now". He's done a wonderful job of illuminating that past in Noble Gas, Penny Black.