This collection of poetry honours Michael D’s life and loves as well as the lessons he has learned. Introductory passages offer a unique insight into the experiences that shape a poet’s work, with a foreword from Abbot Mark Patrick Hederman OSB also featured. New and Selected Poems is more than an ordinary poetry collection. With an introductory prose piece before each five sections, Michael D invites the reader into the mind of a poet and brings each poem to life by revealing some of the events that inspired and influenced. Tracing his life from his “Early Days” when he (aged five) and his brother were sent to live with an aunt and uncle, through to his migration to Galway in “Of Rural Realities”, these wonderful stories shape his poems. Michael D’s life is laid out — raw and honest: the changes in his family life from childhood; his entry into politics, public life, and world affairs; and the appreciation, importance, enjoyment, and loss of friendship. These are his own reflections on a rich and varied life as he casts a wry but compassionate eye on human weakness and resilience, and the centrality of love for all human relationships.
