Mike Jenkins (BBTS Publications)

With an image of a dragon in a business suit on the cover cutting off its tongue with a pair of scissors – image supplied by S4C presenter and poet Sion Tomos Owen – this is, unsurprisingly, a book that not only has a lot to say, but says those things many hold back from expressing. Satire, wit, and polemic are words which spring to mind when reading these poems, which are acerbic here, humorous there, but always incisive as those scissors. Mike Jenkins is a founder member of Red Poets, a socialist band of scribes, and many of these poems may be described as left-wing. It is, however, a rollicking read, and Jenkins is a fine writer, his well-wrought words infused with fiery passion. Favourites for me were {Dim Croeso}, with its images of “{warships in the Bay / helicopters over the Castle}” and the pithy {Re-cycling Made Easy}. An explosive book of poems. MJ

Price: £5. Info: www.mikejenkins.net