Sorry for the Silence

Publisher Marketing: As the title may suggest, this anthology of poems by Ian R. Braddock has had a long gestation period. The thoughts and ideas contained within are distilled from a life that has undergone many twists and turns. There is much that could be read between the lines of experience that can only come with age. Ian R. Braddock was born in Manchester, England. He left school at sixteen to a series of 'dead-end jobs', each proposing little in terms of a career trajectory. Personal fulfilment was sought out in various degrees of hedonism, but also in writing and the pursuit of knowledge, which eventually won out. These poems represent a certain summation of that life's journey and the culmination of his quest to unravel the dichotomy of the human predicament: the relationship between what we want, what we need and the price paid for it. Marriage, fatherhood, moving to Ireland, the death of loved ones, watching children grow up are among the subject matters touched upon movingly in the engaging lines that he writes, at the same time held in check by a warm, often mischievous sense of humour. A collection of poetry that will be enjoyed by anyone who is not afraid to look at the world around them, discover its flaws and seek out answers on a fundamental level. It is only because of the factory that we can appreciate the meadow.