Milk Snake

Milk Snake is a collection of poems by Toby Buckley that explore queerness, displacement, and trauma through clear-voiced, deceptively gentle poems about fishermen, maggots, and bees. The poet drags his tail up the shower wall, cumbersome and not unmaggotesque, and I can see his guts or maybe it's his dinner.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 36 pages
Publication date: 21 July 2022
Publisher: The Emma Press

In Milk Snake, Toby Buckley invites us to peer at the world from a slightly different perspective, where the smallest details can become unsettling if we take the time to observe them. Through his clear-voiced and deceptively gentle poems, the poet delves into themes of queerness, displacement, and trauma, exploring the complexities of human experiences.

As I wake up bleary-eyed from sleep, the warm water of the shower envelops me, and the absence of my glasses creates a distorted vision. Amidst the haze, I spot an uncertain comma sliding up the shower wall, its movements cumbersome and reminiscent of a maggot. Intrigued, I lean closer, and my eyes discern what appears to be the creature's guts, or perhaps it's its dinner.

This unexpected encounter with a milk snake brings to mind the complexities of human relationships and the ways in which we navigate the world around us. Buckley's poetry offers a poignant reflection on the human condition, inviting us to consider the small moments that can hold immense significance and the hidden depths within ourselves and those around us.

Dimension: 198 x 129 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781912915989