In Circles
A memoir in vignettes - Poems written in 40 countries
by Basil Dillon-Malone

---

In Circles is the follow-up publication to the author’s widely-acclaimed parody novel, The Last Smoker on Earth and the End of Literature [Friesen Press, Vancouver, 2021]. The poems were composed in 40 countries around the world. The collection is occasionally profound, sometimes mischievous, but essentially humorous. The author makes a thematic distinction between poems that are obviously whimsical (Nosepicker, Mortal); the misery of despondency (Loner and a bar-room mirror); a ‘recitation-tribute’ to his father growing-up in the West of Ireland (Primrose Hill) and the few such as Paroxysm of Fear that are deeply intense, personal and penetrating. He felt it necessary to include these calamitous images in the vital reality and vulnerability of our times - in a sobriety of our concomitant need for diversion. In Circles is as much a series of standalone vignettes as it is a book of poems. It makes free use of wordplay, euphemism and sound while experimenting with the illustrative (eyecatching) effects of using icons to coax a vivid curiosity in an enlivening of the genre.

---

The author’s various travels through Canada reminded me of the days and nights I used to spend on the road in a previous career (his “aka’s and alibi’s”). I could feel the cold, the need to drive-on at certain times, the compromise in stopping where you might not have wanted but were tired and no longer could be choosy. Even the dark and the time to clear your head and let the ideas, dreams and aspirations flow, even the ‘shouting to nothing and nobody’. The Latin America travels so warm and tropical. And, travels around the globe! The ball parks in Japan which suggested to me the Americanization overlapping and glossing over the destruction. The trussed-up lobster which in its own element is a thing of speed, grace and beauty to observe. The poem, Paroxysm of Fear, voiced almost everything any person of good sense and common decency can think and feel about the world we live in today and those who try to enforce their perverted will! There were also many, many spots when I just laughed out loud like the car loan, the boss’s son and the nose picker. —Gene Klindienst Esq

---

Basil Dillon-Malone grew up in Ballina, County Mayo in the west of Ireland and graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from University College Dublin. Creative writing has been his complementary avocation. Over the years his technical articles, diversely serious and whimsical literary works have appeared in print in the UK, USA, Canada, Switzerland, India, China and Argentina. www.basildillon-malone.com

---

Contributors

Author

Basil Dillon-Malone

---

Other eBook Editions

This book is also available in eBook format from these sites.

• Amazon Kindle Store
• Apple Books
• Google Play