The two searching sequences that bookend this collection are not so much
elegies as unfinished conversations with friends no longer living -
friendships lost or neglected, with their closeness and distances
sensitively mapped. This is Philip Gross's writing at its most
hospitable, lit up by a sense of personal address, both tactful and
deeply engaged. The sea that is always in sight, between us and beyond
us, is more than a metaphor. It is another conversation - with the real
sea of this planet, used and abused and in need of our care. Between
the Islands is Philip Gross's 21st book of poetry, and his 11th from
Bloodaxe.