Sketches from a Curious Mind by Richard Churchill

Note the ambiguity in the title of this collection of poems by Richard Churchill, a philosophy graduate who writes mystery novels and, occasionally, academic articles -- a vice that, I would warn him, is very difficult to throw off.

  A "curious mind" could mean an inquisitive mind, but it could also mean odd and unusual. And there are certainly odd and unusual things to notice from the outset in this book -- for a start, the dedication to a mysterious "Joan, the Sainted Alchemist" who appears to be alive and accessible, at least on some plane. We encounter her again in the last poem in the book "The People Who Made Me."    

The sainted alchemist,
She is still here,
Her light still steady,
Her steel, still sure,
My guide through ruins and rebirth.

   The poems are divided into groups and are very miscellaneous. The best are tightly organized with a structure, some felicitous phrases and some striking similes, expressing ideas that may be cryptic. 

 "Voices of Irony" starts with witty parodies of politicians of various persuasions. He should write more of these. "Garden Battles" is a very original poem about extreme gardening, the struggle between humankind and all manner of foes including "venomous nettles...bees, like jet fighters...underfoot ants..."  (If I could change just one thing in this poem, it would be the word "stage", a metaphor that seems out of place.) 

"Stages and Stories" narrates events as different as a piano recital and an ice hockey match. 

In "Around the World in Thirty Haiku" Churchill accomplishes the feat of writing a haiku about each of thirty different countries. I'm not sure if all of them are grammatical but maybe they don't have to be, by the Japanese rules?

"Times with the Tides" succeeds in describing fun on a beach in a fresh way, de-familiarising the scene:-

Athletic teens...
Armed with colourful ironing-boards.

Some of the poems such as "Journey on the other Side" use elements of fantasy, mixing medieval knights with ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology. This is not really to my taste.

I prefer the poems in the latter sections that grapple with philosophical ideas such as the rather mysterious "Spoils of their Victory" , or "The Velvet Engine", about the lure of gambling, to which the author admits he often succumbed.

"The Weight of their Words" recalls hurtful and negative comments that still smart, even after many years. It hovers between comical and serious.

Richard Churchill is not yet a master of poetic craft but he is working at it. He might consider trying to aim at more formal verse structures just as a discipline or to see whether he could use them for expressive purposes. He definitely has a flair for abstract ideas and dry humour, which may be the best direction for him to go in. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sketches-Curious-Mind-Collection-Poems-ebook/dp/B0FH5KVKB6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?