The Charge of the Light Verse Brigade

The primary purpose of all of these poems is, however, to entertain. For more serious - though I hope not unrelentingly grim - poetry have a look at SCENES FROM SEASONS (but not that sort of season) or LYRICS, POLEMICS and POETICS.

Table of Contents:
The Charge of The Light Verse Brigade 8 Two-minute Feedback 10 Statistics 11 Gothic Romance 12 Zing-Zor, Glorious War 13 Politics 14 Christmas Limericks 15 Fred Fastbuck's School of Writing 16 Trials of Wife 17 This be the Tribute 18 Myfanwy in the Pleasure Dome 19 2002: A Space Fantasy 20 The Danielle Steele Guide to Infidelity 22 Is Rhyme a Crime? 23 With Apologies 25 Notes on Contributors 26 Antivegetarianism 28 Chromosome Dancing 29 Evening Star 30 Motorway Monster 31 Rough and Ready Roundel 32 Question 33 Intercity Blues 34 In the Market of Old Aswan 35 Not Gullible, but Grasping 36 Regime Change: Spot the Difference 37 The Philosopher's Hate Song 38 Grade `C' for Geography 39 Up With the Seagulls 40 Superman Returns 41 Not Sonnet 23 43 Three Glasses of Sangiovese 44 All the Talents 45 The Great God Pan in Declining Years 46 Something Else 47 The Serious Drinking Song 48 An Ironic Sonnet 49 Bankthink 50 It's Only a Game 51 Single Entendre 53 Lines on the British Summer 54 Humpty Nursery Rhymes 55 Magic Words 56 Sexually Shared Diseases 57 The Greatest Story Ever Filmed 58 Giving Up 59 How to Survive Junk Calls 60 Shower Sharing Spider 61 Piccadilly 62 Wind Folly Farm 63 The Three Sons 64 Alternative Exit Strategies 65 Food Processors 66 Cliches are the New Cliches 67 Climate Change Poem 68 Air Travellin' Man 69 Personal Ads 70 Shattered 71 The Wangledongler 72 Ode to The Doggerel Bank 73 At the Court of Queen Camilla 74 Alphabet Group 75 Noms de Plume 78

About the Author :
The latest publication from Tom East is the ELDRITCH novel, THE KA OF STEPHEN CHARLES. This is now available. Thirteen books are currently available in paperback from TOM EAST or as eBooks. Apart from the latest, these include the controversial novel THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO St JUDAS and the unsparing non-fiction of LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE, about recovery from two brain haemorrhages, Earlier Tom was the writer of many works of fiction, commercial features, essays, reviews, 'other prose' and poetry. He was also the author of six (print) books. He was born in London, although of Welsh family and has lived in Wales for many years. Still available as paperback and ebook are THE EVE OF ST ELIGIUS, THE GREENLAND PARTY, TOMMY'S WAR: July 1914, SCENES FROM SEASONS, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT VERSE BRIGADE, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST JUDAS, LYRICS, POLEMICS AND POETICS, WISH MAN'S WOOD, A FIFTIES' CHILDHOOD, LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE, WHY WRITE HAIKU? and THE LOWELL LETTERS

Review :
I remember how shocked I was when I saw a poem in free verse for the first time. Although it sounded nice, I thought it was a sacrilege to call such a thing a poem and therefore overlook the strict rules of classical poetry. To my very young mind, it was only fixed forms, and then unfixed ones, that showed how skilled a poet was. Now, decades later, free verse still comes second to me - one can't be a complete poet without showing how good his command of the classical techniques is. Judging by his latest collection of poems - The Charge of the Light Verse Brigade - Tom East is a virtuoso in both modes, the more so as he uses them in the humorous and satirical vein. In pastiches, parodies and burlesque (Shakespeare, Tennyson, Larkin, Betjeman), in roundels, limericks, nursery rhymes, nonsense rhymes, etc., East finds as many vehicles for his personal experiences recycled into mostly whimsical light poems, which stand out through a facility of verbal invention and a delight in the sounds of words, some real, some imaginary. His collection provides both fine amusement and instruction for polished minds, with wit, cleverness and a twist of irony, just the thing one needs to brighten up one's day.