M F ALFREY

I am very proud to announce the release of this little passion project: a mess of poems.

This is very much a passion project of mine and side-step from my usual novel-sized offerings, yet still with strong leanings to my love of fantasy and sci-fi, including odes to nature, long-form memory poetry, fantasy haiku and pillar poems. A slim collection of 66 poems ranging in topics from childhood memories of the ‘90s, to my grandmother’s recollections of leaving Poland at the very start of WWII, to fantasy verses and general nerdery.

Part One, Memories, focuses on memories spanning from the ‘90s to my travels as an adult in India, Korea, Thailand, and Poland where I lived for a year tracing my Polish heritage. The final three poems are dedicated to my babcia (Polish for grandmother), who was displaced from Poland at a very young age at the onset of WWII. The poems themselves created from a tape-recorded interview she gave to me back in the early 2000s. If anything, this publication was worth it just to see those immortalised in print. All poignant in their way, yet for personal reasons, I find Granny’s Sleeping with Her Boots On, remains my favourite.

Part Two, Fantasies & Fandom, shifts focus to playful poems of a fantastical nature. Inspirations for these come from various sources such as Tarot, Dungeons & Dragons, myths, and movies. The last five poems are pillar poems containing “easter eggs” for those nerdy enough to scrutinise them.

Part Three, Experiments, does exactly what it says on the tin. My favourites being the first poem One Terrestrial Planet and a Side of Moon Please, and Macbeth 40,000. Both great fun to write technically and in thematically.