Provocative and tender, passionate yet wary, the highly charged poems in Helen Farish's first collection testify to the complex nature of relationships with lovers, with family and with the self. The love poems explore moments of intense exposure, and within the erotic relation seek to carve out a voice adequate to the expression of female sexuality and desire. Within this framework, the body itself becomes a rich and compelling site of inquiry.
Posted throughout the collection like sentinels, poems on the death of the father draw the poet back home where grief mingles with surprising moments of grace or redemption. But whether the encounter concerns sudden loss or sudden blessing, constant throughout is a warm and boldly embodied lyric 'I' voice generously inviting the reader in.
Poised at life's mid-point, these haunting, haunted poems negotiate their emotional freight in carefully crafted forms which mediate between exposure and guardedness. Expertly charting the geographies of sex and love, the histories of childhood and grief, Intimates introduces a new poet of originality, honesty and singular power.



![Ni, Ghriofa Doireann POETRY New Doireann Ní Ghríofa: Lies [2018] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/ni-ghriofa-doireann-doireann-ni-ghriofa-lies-2018-paperback-9781910251393-57197359235411_{width}x.jpg?v=1764659384)
![Gorman, Amanda & Winfrey, Oprah POETRY Amanda Gorman: The Hill We Climb [2021] hardback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/gorman-amanda-winfrey-oprah-amanda-gorman-the-hill-we-climb-2021-hardback-1190689018_{width}x.jpg?v=1756817969)
![Bramley, Cathy POETRY Cathy Bramley: The Sunrise Sisterhood [2023] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/bramley-cathy-cathy-bramley-the-sunrise-sisterhood-2023-paperback-1146062044_{width}x.jpg?v=1741643959)
![Chaucer, Geoffrey & Kolve, V. A. (University Of California, & Olson, Glending (Cleveland State Univers POETRY Good Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales: Seventeen Tales and the General Prologue [2018] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/chaucer-geoffrey-kolve-v-a-university-of-california-olson-glending-cleveland-state-univers-geoffrey-chaucer-the-canterbury-tales-seventeen-tales-and-the-general-prologue-2018-paperbac_{width}x.jpg?v=1695205406)
![Kay, Jackie POETRY Jackie Kay: The Lamplighter [2008] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/kay-jackie-jackie-kay-the-lamplighter-2008-paperback-57975115350355_{width}x.jpg?v=1727224507)