The Testes of Lenin

Pindrop Press, 2022
94 pages, £10
ISBN 978-1-8384373-6-7

The Testes of Lenin, and other philosophies. We're small and desperate, and don't have a clue what's coming next. Disease, overheating, overeating, self-inflicted extinction. If there's an answer to be found then it's in the tiniest attempts of everyday people: someone searching for a toilet, a jar of Covid caviar, rain in the gutter, someone remonstrating against the unfairness of the world in the street at 3 am. A big, meaningless, bulging bag for life.

Graham Fulton has been publishing poetry over five decades, and he has never failed to capture important and immediate details of life in Scotland, and in western culture generally. His work is about personal observation of locality and specific incidents, out of which he strives toward something human and humane. A master of rhythmic free verse, his words dance on the page irreverently, sharp as a needle pricking the balloons of pomposity. This collection provides an ideal starting point for anyone who wants to delve more deeply into his writing. Without question Fulton is one of the finest poets living right now.'

Jim Ferguson, poet

Graham Fulton is a poetry magician. He draws characters and everyday situations that are immediate, identifiable, often hilarious at a glance. Then deftly he drops in such strong, clever images and metaphors that you barely see them coming till the bomb of emotion detonates. Without a hint of polemic, his poems are deeply political, complex comments on what's actually happening behind the propaganda. With searing pathos and tragicomedy, he writes with a yearning for a more equal, compassionate world in which everyone's humanity is recognised.'

Lesley Benzie, poet

Graham Fulton brings his trademark observational scalpel and black-silk wit to life's big themes of love, loss, politics, and planetary health. Each poem reads like a film still in cinematic detail, the collection an intimate conversation with a good friend. People, buildings, buses, and objects dominate these poems with glimpses of the natural world. This is city life where eyes are level with roof tiles to 'try another view'. Unexpected tenderness sits next to the comical with 'Death pushing in for a selfie.' Long after reading, I am looking for answers to questions I didn't know I had been asked.'

Morag Anderson, poet