Landscape With Man And High-Vis Jacket And Alpaca

A film poem by Daniel Bennett:

'For the last ten years, I've made the same train journey through the Hampshire countryside, from London out towards the coast. The landscape has become a familiar companion during this time, although remaining remote and elusive, trapped beyond glass. One night, on a diversion forced by bad weather, the train pulled along a remote area of track, where a high tensile fence had been strung across a patch of flooded marshland. Through the steam on the window, I could make out a man wearing a high-vis jacket staring back at me in front of a tent, an alpaca grazing by his side. This weird, fleeting glimpse into someone's life formed the basis of a long poem, taking in themes of rootlessness and austerity, one of many poems about place and landscape in my first collection, West South North, North South East.'

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Daniel Bennett was born in Shropshire and live and work in London. My poems have been published in numerous places, including The Stinging Fly, Black Box Manifold and Structo, and I'm also the author of the novel, All The Dogs. You can find more of my work online at Absence Club.