(103 sidor)
Oak Tree Press Wintringham.
Dikterna i boken är både på svenska och engelska.
Torleif Styffe lives in the northernmost part of Värmland, Sweden and some of his verse is written in the dialect - Dalbymål - of the Dalby area. Some of his poems have a deeply religious intent, but it is the religion of ordinary Värmland folk in the context of their countryside and history and costums, as in "I missionshus" (In the Mission House), where Christmas is imaginged in granddad's stable, or in "I himme'ln" (In Heaven), where heaven - a Värmland heaven of course, is pictured in its simple perfection. Other poems, though short, are at the same time often piquantly observationel or satirical about people (usually himself) and their foibles, as in "Ôm kultur" (Culture). Yet others are filled with nostalgia for a Värmland that no longer exits, as in "Ôm e hellt anna val" Another world).
I have chosen poems from three of his verse collections - "Lat poet", (Lazy poet), "Lättpoesi" (Light poetry) and "Mina bästa sidor" (My best pages). Many, however are new and have not been previously published. This is a collection that is easy to read and enjoy, always with a traditional, satisfying rhyme and metre and, if the spirit so moves, one can ponder on the homespun philosophies that lie between the lines.
Mike McArthur
