Crossing Over

Tony Curtis’ wide-ranging interests in visual art, the impact of war and the nature of friendship coallese in his latest collection, Crossing Over . A number of the poems take their inspiration from great artists, from early religious icons to expressionist canvasses, from a ‘buttery girl’ in a Flemish Landscape to the chainsaw sculptures of David Nash. This book includes two thoughtful and beautiful war poems, including the title piece, a moving tribute to World War Two Veterans on a D-Day memorial excursion. There are also a series of sumptuous poems about travelling, including Postcards from Tuscany where the lush beauty of the landscape contrasts with the poet’s mood, saddened by the death of a friend. There are several succinct sonnets about California, on subjects as various as vagrants in San Francisco and the stunning cliff-face walls in Yosemite National Park. A sonnet about his granddaughter opens this varied and striking collection which shows a poet writing at the top of his game.