Laurie Page - The Colour Of Thunder

"Laurie Page's extraordinary debut collection 'The Colour of Thunder' takes the reader on a kaledescopic psychic journey from the depths of dissociative dysmorphia to something approaching resolution: simultaneously chronicling a concious becoming and a frenetic escape in to being.

This is no simplistic narrative but a deep existential dive into what it means to be alive and to become alive. The work is rich in metaphor and subtle musicality, ranging widely across time and space and yet always firmly rooted within the author's physical body and mind. The language is sublime. Meanings are subtle and layered, structures complex and precise, the tension between yearning and acceptance omnipresent. The overall effect is deeply moving. A fascinating, illuminating and beautifully human book."

Tim King

Poet, Bard of Exeter 2019-21, Host of Taking The Mic

"These poems are a dance between danger and sanctuary, much like love itself. The mythical and the everyday are so tightly woven they each gain a new power, and the beauty in the carefully crafted lines at times demands we pause mid poem in admiration, before moving on slowly enough not to lose breath. Prepare to look at the world differently.”

Harula Ladd

Poet, Host of Wordstir

"Laurie Page transforms the bewildering ache of dysphoria into a thing of beauty. Exquisitely crafted, 'The Colour of Thunder' shimmers with “a happy melancholy” where intimacies are shared in words that are arresting both in their inventiveness and their candour.

A fine example of confessional literature in its honesty, dexterity and learning,this brave collection takes us on a compelling journey in search of peace and ultimately love. Subtle yet bold, delicate yet powerful – a delight from start to finish!”

Dr Clare Morris

Poet, Exeter Slam Champion

"Laurie’s poetic voice as a writer and performer is a constantly unfolding gift of exquisite observation, rapture and mystique. Her collection is an invitation to the best kind of place to get lost in.
 

We learn, unskin and grow every time we read or hear Laurie perform."

Ceri Baker

Poet, Bard of Exeter 2024

Host of Speakease, Womad Slam Winner 2023

Introduction

It gives me such joy to be able to present the reader with these poems. Some have lain around for years in various shades of finality scribbled in notebooks and printed on loose sheets of paper. These poems have been my little word-hoard, discreetly shown to a handful of listeners before being quickly squirrelled back away into obscurity. They are hidden no longer, and I hope that in this volume they may see the light a little more often than I allowed them.

Most of these poems were composed over the course of the last year, and almost all have been written since the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Two, “Sillsitting” and “Escape”, were composed as long ago as 2016, when I was seventeen. They both express a pull to flee from the life I had at that time. As if this had been a premonition, in June 2021 I came out as transgender, a piece of information I feel without which the reader would be disadvantaged in commencing this collection.

The themes of these poems are rooted in emotions ranging from triumphal self-realisation to injured reflection and grief. When writing, I am mindful of how negative feelings can renew and replicate themselves through unconsidered emotional expression. Therefore, no matter how difficult the topics with which they deal, I have promised myself that my poems will never be cynical and never utterly bleak. Observing these conditions is what has made the writing of these poems possible, and without it I doubt I would have found composition as healing as I have. I can only wish that this intention has become a part of them and will follow wherever they now go.

One last thought before beginning: everything here takes existence without suspicion, holding every inflection of being as worthy of wonder and eulogy.

Laurie Page

March 2024