Ten Poems about Work Selected & Introduced by Jonathan Edwards

We may not love our jobs, but when we can’t go to work we find that we miss them. This mini-anthology reflects on our working lives in all their glorious variety with a delightful mix of nostalgia, celebration and humour.

There are commutes by car and bike, and a poem in which driving to work in New York becomes an almost cinematic experience of the New England landscape. Elsewhere there’s a young girl in India who takes pride in the humble task of collecting cow dung, and a teacher reflecting on the rituals that mark the passing of the academic year:

I have measured time by paper snowflakes,
blown eggs, bereft cocoons…

from ‘Miss Berry’ by Liz Berry

Poet Jonathan Edwards’ eclectic and highly entertaining selection of poems explores our complicated and often surprising relationship with the things we have to do to earn a living.

Poems by Liz Berry, Sujata Bhatt, Gillian Clarke, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Lux, Helen Mort, John Ormond, Kathryn Simmonds, James Tate and Walt Whitman.

Cover illustration by Hugh Ribbans.

It looks like you are not logged in as a Friends member of Scottish Poetry Library. Did you know that, as well as supporting our work, Friends receive discount in our online Shop? Become a Friend now or login to access your Friend's discount.