NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

An independent small press poetry review

NHI independent review
LEE McLAUGHLIN: TODAY'S BOHEMIAN
Scotch-Poet

out of print

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LEE McLAUGHLIN: TODAY'S BOHEMIAN

Lee McLaughlin is Scotch-Poet (16031990). TODAY'S BOHEMIAN is a collection of his poetry written in Streatham, Croydon, Blackpool and London. Most of the poems are brief, made up of short lines centred on the page, though some are longer and would work well as performance pieces. Many of the poems are snapshots of life, such as SEASIDE:

	Seagulls stare
	Bikers add a little flair
Many of the snapshot poems contain more than a little angst about contemporary life and politics, as in RICH ONES:
	There's a malaise
	In DSS hotels....
The longer poem THE FAST LANE expresses a dislike that I have to admit to sharing:
	I hate supermarkets they drive me mad
	Is it just me who's modern-day sad?
PAY ATTENTION is another poem with a message, this time about human's lack of care to the seas, ending:
	Naturally I don't want you to devour
	The last sacred sea turtle STOP!
	I need you to throw away
	Complex things — be 'hip'
	Zip, zip and bin COME ON!
	Your plastic bags ooze
	Environmental sin.
	Please don't suffocate the world
	We love to live and breathe in...
Given the number of very short pieces, TODAY'S BOHEMIAN is possibly an ideal poetry book for the rushed modern world and thought provoking enough to question some of the things we take for granted about that world.

reviewer: Juliet Wilson.