Pigeon Lock and other poems

Whether reflecting on war, violence and poverty, struggling to translate childhood memories into words or delighting in the natural world, David Green shows both a willingness to see the big picture and an awareness of small details.

His work often reveals a dry humour alongside a sensitive view of the world and an individual’s place in it. Throughout, the accessibility of his poetry makes for easy reading.

David Green was educated at the City of Oxford High School, in the Scout movement and in the Royal Air Force. Since demob in 1955 he has been an Inland Revenue clerk, a publisher’s assistant, a taxi driver, a night worker on a car assembly line, a shop steward, a furniture salesman and a publisher’s rep. For 15 years he worked for Oxfam, in various capacities, then set up his own small business making exhibitions and providing editorial services for publishers and universities. He is married with three children and five grandchildren. He is a practising Anglican, a pianist of very modest attainment and a non-twitching bird enthusiast. He has written poetry throughout his life, seriously since 1990, and is an active member of the Fountain Poetry Group in Wells.

"David Green has an eye for landscape, whether in the Middle East, Africa, India or close to home, and writes with a deep love of the Oxfordshire countryside. He takes delight in the details of daily life and the quirks of human nature, and is not afraid to experiment with form, metre and rhyme, giving a refreshing variety to this impressive collection.”
– Ama Bolton — Wells Fountain Poets and Bridport Prizewinner

"These poems will take readers to places and times that may be unfamiliar to them. From the banks of the Thames to the wilds of Yemen, from wartime to the present day, they have caught the mood with a freshness and subtlety."
– David Cloke — Leader of East Coker Poetry Group