Counting Backwards

Helen Dunmore (1952-2017) was a poet, novelist, short story and children’s writer. Her poetry books received a Poetry Book Society Choice and Recommendations, the Alice Hunt Bartlett Award, and the Signal Poetry Award. Bestiary was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize in 1997. Inside the Wave won the 2017 Costa Poetry Award and went on to be named Costa Book of the Year. She won first prize in the Cardiff International Poetry Competition in 1990 with her poem ‘Sisters leaving the dance’, and first prize in the National Poetry Competition in 2010 with ‘The Malarkey’. After making her debut with The Apple Fall in 1983, she published all her poetry with Bloodaxe. Her earlier work was collected in Out of the Blue: Poems 1975-2001 (2001), which was followed by Glad of These Times (2007), The Malarkey (2012), and Inside the Wave (2017), her tenth and final collection. A new retrospective, Counting Backwards: Poems 1975-2017, was published by Bloodaxe in 2019. She published twelve novels and three books of short stories with Penguin, including A Spell of Winter (1995), winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, Talking to the Dead (1996), The Siege (2001), Mourning Ruby (2003), House of Orphans (2006) and The Betrayal (2010), as well as The Greatcoat (2012) with Hammer, and The Lie (2014), Exposure (2016) and Birdcage Walk (2017) with Hutchinson. A posthumous story collection, Girl, Balancing and Other Stories, followed from Hutchinson in 2018. Born in Beverley, Yorkshire, she studied English at York University, and after graduating in 1973 spent two years teaching in Finland before settling in Bristol.

We all felt this is a modern classic; a fantastic collection, life-affirming and uplifting. The poems carry powerful messages that speak to all of us.

• Inside the Wave (2017)19 Counting Backwards20 The Underworld21 Shutting the Gate22 In Praise of the Piano23 Re-opening the old mines24 Inside the Wave26 Odysseus to Elpenor28 Plane tree outside Ward 7829 The shaft30 Leave the door open31 My life’s stem was cut32 The Bare Leg34 The Place of Ordinary Souls35 My daughter as Penelope37 The Lamplighter38 The Halt39 Bluebell Hollows40 A Loose Curl41 Hornsea, 195242 Festival of stone43 A Bit of Love44 Winter Balcony with Dunnocks45 Mimosa46 Nightfall in the IKEA Kitchen48 The Duration49 At the Spit50 Terra Incognita51 Four cormorants, one swan52 Girl in the Blue Pool53 February 12th 199454 What shall I do for my sister in the day she shall be spoken for?55 In Secret55 All the breaths of your life56 Her children look for her57 Little papoose58 Cliffs of Fall59 Five Versions from Catullus59 1 Through Babel of Nations59 2 Undone59 3 Sirmio60 4 Dedication61 5 Sparrow62 Rim63 On looking through the handle of a cup64 Ten Books66 Subtraction67 My people68 September Rain 70 Hold out your arms The Malarkey (2012)75 The Malarkey76 Come Out Now78 The Inbox79 Boatman80 I Owned a Woman Once82 Longman English Series83 Writ in Water88 Dis89 Newgate90 At Ease91 Harbinger91 The Hyacinths92 The Night Workers93 Agapanthus above Porthmeor94 Visible and Invisible94 The Snowfield95 Lemon tree in November96 Bildad99 Skulking99 Basement at Eighteen Folgate Street100 Barclays Bank, St Ives100 Playing Her Pieces101 Pianist, 103,102 The Torn Ship103 Taken in Shadows108 Prince Felipe Prospero (1657-1661)108 Picture Messages109 Lethe110 The Queue’s Essentially110 The Captainess of Laundry111 The Day’s Umbrellas112 The Deciphering113 The Tarn113 The Gift114 What Will You Say115 Cloud115 I Have Been Thinking of You So Loudly116 The Kingdom of the Dead117 The Last Heartbeat117 The Old Mastery118 The Overcoat118 Window Cleaners at Ladysmith Road119 I Heard You Sing in the Dark120 La Recouvrance121 The Filament Glad of These Times (2007)125 City lilacs126 Crossing the field127 Litany128 Don’t count John among the dreams129 The other side of the sky’s dark room129 Convolvulus130 The grey lilo131 Yellow butterflies132 Plume132 Odysseus133 The blue garden134 Violets135 The rowan136 Barnoon137 Getting into the car138 Glad of these times140 Off-script140 ‘Indeed we are all made from the dust of stars’141 Tulip142 Beautiful today the143 Dead gull on Porthmeor144 Narcissi145 Dolphins whistling147 Borrowed light148 A winter imagination149 Athletes149 Pneumonia150 Wall is the book151 Gorse152 Blackberries after Michaelmas152 To my nine-year-old self153 Fallen angel154 Bridal155 Still life with ironing155 Spanish Irish156 Cowboys156 Below Hungerford Bridge157 Ophelia158 Winter bonfire158 One a.m.159 Lemon and stars159 Cutting open the lemons160 Hearing owls161 ‘Often they go just before dawn’162 May voyage Out of the Blue (2001)165 Out of the Blue166 The man on the roof167 Giraffes in Hull168 Jacob’s drum169 That old cinema of memory170 Depot170 A lorry-load of stuff172 Virgin with Two Cardigans173 Ice coming174 Cyclamen, blood-red175 Piers Plowman: The Crucifixion & Harrowing of Hell185 Smoke186 Bristol Docks188 The spill189 Without remission190 The rain’s coming in191 As good as it gets192 If only192 Mr Lear’s ring193 Fortune-teller on Church Road194 Sleeveless194 The point of not returning195 The form196 The sentence196 With short, harsh breaths197 The footfall198 The coffin-makers199 Inside out200 The blessing from Bestiary (1997)203 Candle poem204 At the Emporium204 Next door205 He lived next door all his life206 Under the leaves *207 The surgeon husband208 Fishing beyond sunset208 Hare in the snow209 Need211 Sometimes in the rough garden of city spaces212 I should like to be buried in a summer forest213 The scattering214 All the things you are not yet215 Ferns on a hospital window *216 Diving girl217 A pretty shape218 Viking cat in the dark219 Baby sleep220 Frostbite221 Basketball player on Pentecost Monday222 Tiger lookout223 Tiger Moth caterpillar224 Hungry Thames224 The wasp225 On growing a black tulip *226 Little Ellie and the timeshare salesman227 Bouncing boy227 Ghost at noon228 Greek beads229 Tea at Brandt’s230 We are men, not beasts from Recovering a Body (1994)233 To Virgil234 Three Ways of Recovering a Body236 Holiday to Lonely237 Poem in a Hotel238 The Bike Lane239 Drink and the Devil240 Ahvenanmaa241 Rubbing Down the Horse242 You came back to life in its sweetness243 Heimat244 In the Desert Knowing Nothing245 Poem on the Obliteration of 100,000 Iraqi Soldiers246 The Yellow Sky247 Getting the Strap248 Adders249 The conception250 Scan at 8 weeks251 Pedalo255 Beetroot Soup256 The Diving Reflex258 Bathing at Balnacarry259 Boys on the Top Board260 Sylvette Scrubbing261 Babes in the Wood262 Cajun263 Then I think how the train *264 Skips264 Time by Accurist265 The Silent Man in Waterstones266 The Wardrobe Mistress268 When You’ve Got269 Afterword * from Secrets (1994)273 Lemon sole274 Christmas caves275 That violet-haired lady276 Whooper swans277 Snow Queen278 The cuckoo game279 The butcher’s daughter281 The greenfield ghost282 Herring girl283 Russian doll284 Breeze of ghosts from Short Days, Long Nights (1991)287 Those shady girls287 The dream-life of priests289 Sisters leaving before the dance291 On not writing certain poems292 Privacy of rain293 Dancing man295 At Cabourg II296 Baron Hardup297 Nearly May Day300 Three workmen with blue pails301 Brown coal303 Safe period304 Big barbershop man305 The dry well306 Our family, swimming again *307 Sweet pepper *308 Heron309 One yellow chicken310 Sailing to Cuba310 Off the West Pier312 Winter 1955313 Rinsing313 To Betty, swimming314 In Berber’s Ice Cream Parlour315 On drinking lime juice in September *316 Not going to the forest317 Lutherans from The Raw Garden (1988)321 Code-breaking in the Garden of Eden323 Seal run325 Wild strawberries326 A mortgage on a pear tree337 A pæony truss on Sussex place328 Permafrost329 At Cabourg331 Ploughing the roughlands332 The land pensions333 A dream of wool334 New crops335 Shadows of my mother against a wall336 Air layering336 The argument337 The peach house338 A meditation of the glasshouses339 The haunting of Epworth340 Preaching at Gwennap341 On circuit from Heptonstall Chapel342 US 1st Division Airborne Ranger at rest in Honduras343 One more for the beautiful table344 Lambkin344 Dublin 1971346 The hard-hearted husband348 Malta349 Candlemas349 Pilgrims350 An Irish miner in Staffordshire from The Sea Skater (1986)353 The bride’s nights in a strange village354 Lazarus *355 Christmas roses356 I imagine you sent back from Africa358 The knight *359 In memoriam Cyril Smith 1913-1945361 The parachute packers363 Porpoise washed up on the beach364 In deep water365 Lady Macduff and the primroses367 Mary Shelley370 The plum tree371 The air-blue gown373 My sad descendants374 Patrick at four years old on Bonfire Night375 The horse landscape376 Thetis377 In the tents378 Uncle Will’s telegram379 Rapunzel381 Bewick’s swans *382 The sea skater383 In the tea house384 Florence in permafrost386 Missile launcher passing at night from The Apple Fall (1983)389 The marshalling yard390 A cow here in the June meadow391 Zelda392 Annunciation off East Street *393 The Polish husband395 The damson396 In Rodmell Garden397 The apple fall398 Pictures of a Chinese nursery *399 Pharaoh’s daughter400 Domestic poem401 Patrick I402 Patrick II403 Weaning403 Clinic day *404 Approaches to winter406 The night chemist407 St Paul’s408 Poem for December 28409 Greenham Common410 Poem for hidden women412 If no revolution come414 A safe light415 Near Dawlish415 The last day of the exhausted month416 Second marriages *417 The deserted table418 The writer’s son419 Ollie and Charles at St Andrew’s Park420 Winter fairs420 In a wood near Turku421 Landscape from the Monet Exhibition at Cardiff422 Breakfast 423 index of titles and first lines