Three Spiders Fucking

Robin Purves’ Three Spiders Fucking is a heartbroken and mournful suite of poems heavy with loss. Purves’ poetry bears the influence of two of the UK’s most celebrated alternative voices, J. H. Prynne and Denise Riley. The opening section pivots around the discovery of a man “hanging from a bough in a clearing”. The following sections mostly concern the aftermath. Purves’ language is drenched in natural world, fractured and thoughtful, hinting at the deeper questions which underpin this remarkable pamphlet.