Lonely Earth

The poems in MaryJane Thomson’s second collection, Lonely Earth, show an important development since her debut collection Fallen Grace. Moving from a more personal and ‘confessional’ poetry, the poems in Lonely Earth take the reader out into the urban streets of the 21st century. An urgent political and public voice is at work in these poems with hints of reggae, hip-hop, soul, folk and blues driving the musicality and the rhythm of the lines. Shorter, minimalist poems transmit, like antennae of the world, concise imagery and deep thought. Lonely Earth is a diverse, edgy read grappling with contemporary issues like care of the environment, humanity’s past, its wars and consumerism. At the heart of Thomson’s poems is a committed voice that cares deeply for the world and its people.