You Do You

Meditations on parenthood, memory, death, the natural world, the fluctuations of pop culture, and the suburban grind with aplomb in a keen observational style


Sam Morley's second collection comprises poetry that is image-rich, fusing the sublime with the common. Always committed to observation as a channel into discovery, You Do You merges meditations on parenthood, memory, death, the natural world and the fluctuations of pop culture and the suburban grind. The primary setting is the home, be it as a father or child or as a person perplexed by the vicissitudes of humanity. These poems start from the personal while remaining detached, and often undulate from the private world into something universal and large.

'Poems with grandeur and freshness side by side. With vivid language, Sam Morley shifts easily between the past and the modern so we have our lives anew.' -- Yumna Kassab

'Morley's poems are precise, intense postcards -- no word is wasted. Morley's sharp eye is unafraid to take 'quiet / counsel with God' he gives the reader breathing space, but always sticks the landing.'--Zenobia Frost