⭐ The Rough, the Smooth and the Quirky:
Poems for a Complicated World
is a lively, candid and compassionate collection that engages
directly with the complexities of contemporary life.
Across themes of family, friendship, travel, politics,
faith, conflict and coexistence, these poems search for clarity
— and for ways forward.
Drawing on John Webster’s background as a songwriter,
the poems carry the rhythms of English balladry
and the emotional punch of lived experience.
They “tell it like it is”: provocative yet humane,
mischievous yet hopeful.
❤️ Ties of the Heart
Poems of family, friendship and the bonds
that hold us together
This opening section explores the human ties
that bind us — the relationships that shape
who we are. It includes tributes to:
John Martyn
E.P. Thompson
Mary Shelley
the author’s father
They touch on loyalty, loss,
memory and the persistence of love.
✈️ Lift‑Offs
Travel poems that move between place,
insight and deeper reflection.
From Scotland to the Italian Riviera,
from Vietnam to Chile, they reflect on history
and the present, concluding that whatever one's
world-view the stimulus of travel is always welcome.
😏 Words on the Woke
A series of mischievously humorous poems
homing in on some of the more infuriating
and wrongheaded aspects of contemporary “Wokery”.
With old certainties overthrown, Orwell replaced
with Foucault, and the definition of a woman in doubt,
these are gentle interrogations of
some of the contemporary peculiarities
that clamour for attention.
🌙 No Such Thing as Infidel
Poems at the meeting point of Islam and the West,
thoughtful, nuanced and grounded in lived experience.
This section navigates the complex intersections
between Islamic and Western cultures. It includes:
examples of tolerance and intolerance in Islamic history,
critiques of political Islam, reflections on contemporary
Middle Eastern conflicts, and concludes with
a poem praising the humanity encountered
in a local Middle Eastern food store, arguing that
an emphasis on shared human priorities
can lead to fruitful coexistence.
🇺🇦 Stanzas on Ukraine
Poems of solidarity, resistance and the human cost of war.
Chronicling Russian aggression and Ukrainian resistance,
refuting Russian claims to Ukrainian territory,
this section culminates with “Ukraine Dreamin”,
a vision of coexistence seen through
the eyes of a Russian dissenter.
🖋️ Two Modern Fables
History reimagined with wit,
imagination and political bite.
A Byronic Fable — Lord Byron’s experiences in the
Greek War of Independence point toward an
Afghanistan free from Taliban repression.
A Beatles Fable — The invincible Hitler of 1940
is shaken by a nightmare — of a Yellow Submarine.
🌱 Forward Thinking
Poems about diaspora, the unborn,
and daily worries.
A 3-poem coda, reflecting on the increasing number
of 'diasporic lives', responsibilities to the unborn,
and concluding with a night-time thought to relieve stress.
⭐ About the Collection
If what you seek is poetry that feels deeply,
thinks clearly, laughs wisely and still believes
in the possibility of hope, then this book of
unaffected, original poems is for you.
Available now on Amazon in the UK here
and in the USA here
and from bookshops quoting
ISBN 978-1-0683328-6-9
Paperback £9.99, e-book £4.99
