Bundle O'Tinder

Winner of the third annual Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize (2007), judged by former Poet Laureate of the USA and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Richard Wilbur.

How Ticklishness Evolved

What danger does he shrink from, when my nail
skitters across the boundary of his tan —
a tiger''s whisker-tip, a scorpion''s tail?
What wriggler wrecked a cave bear''s dinner plan
by waking up the world''s first ticklish man?

Maybe it was a spider''s needle feet
that triggered that first trembling retreat;
perhaps the flicking of a serpent''s tongue,
or something more insidious and sweet,
whose touch was feather-soft before it stung.

From an acerbic poem on the subject of poetry competitions to a touching reflection on what might once have been a Neanderthal''s flute; from a light-hearted meditation on the origins of ticklishness to a measured account of her reaction on first hearing about 9/11, Rose Kelleher''s Bundle o'' Tinder is a debut collection of unusual thematic diversity. It is also a collection of unusual formal resourcefulness, written by a poet immersed in tradition but not in thrall to it.

Rose Kelleher has worked as a technical writer and programmer, and authored four computer books and numerous technical articles. Since rediscovering poetry in recent years, she has published poems and essays in a variety of magazines – including Anon, Atlanta Review, The Dark Horse, First Things, iota, Measure, The Shit Creek Review, Snakeskin and Verse Daily – and been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. Visit her website at www.ramblingrose.com

Winner of the third annual Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize (2007), judged by former Poet Laureate of the USA and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Richard Wilbur.

How Ticklishness Evolved

What danger does he shrink from, when my nail
skitters across the boundary of his tan —
a tiger''s whisker-tip, a scorpion''s tail?
What wriggler wrecked a cave bear''s dinner plan
by waking up the world''s first ticklish man?

Maybe it was a spider''s needle feet
that triggered that first trembling retreat;
perhaps the flicking of a serpent''s tongue,
or something more insidious and sweet,
whose touch was feather-soft before it stung.

From an acerbic poem on the subject of poetry competitions to a touching reflection on what might once have been a Neanderthal''s flute; from a light-hearted meditation on the origins of ticklishness to a measured account of her reaction on first hearing about 9/11, Rose Kelleher''s Bundle o'' Tinder is a debut collection of unusual thematic diversity. It is also a collection of unusual formal resourcefulness, written by a poet immersed in tradition but not in thrall to it.

Rose Kelleher has worked as a technical writer and programmer, and authored four computer books and numerous technical articles. Since rediscovering poetry in recent years, she has published poems and essays in a variety of magazines – including Anon, Atlanta Review, The Dark Horse, First Things, iota, Measure, The Shit Creek Review, Snakeskin and Verse Daily – and been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. Visit her website at www.ramblingrose.com