Paul Henry is has gained a reputation as one of of the best poets in the UK. Boy Running is his beautiful sixth collection by the Wales-born author, published in 2015, and the first to follow his: The Brittle Sea: New and Selected Poems . We begin in a Studio Flat. Cut adrift by marital break-up, the poet must sort through the emotional fallout and the various chattels left behind; a sea of characteristic props: tables, lamps, metronomes, pianos, guitars. The poets sons are at the heart of this section where pathos is balanced by humour amidst the characters of a small country town. A second section moves to the Welsh coastal town of Henrys childhood, Aberystywth, opening with a long poem, Kicking the Stone set in the summer of 1969. Also in this section are some familiar characters from earlier poems such as Brown Helen and Catrin Sands. In the final sequence we meet Davy Blackrock: washed-up songwriter and modern day alter ego of Dafydd y Garreg Wen (David of the White Rock), alias David Owen (1720-1749), the blind, 18th century harpist and composer who fell asleep on a hill and dreamt the famous song which bears his name.

In contrast to White Rock, Davy Blackrock lives on the top-floor of a tower block, star of an ashen town, nurses his guitar and dreams of the perfect song. Henrys poems are often expressionistic, even symbolist with formal skill and time and space-bending panache to boot. The new, previously unpublished poems represent the best work of a lyric poet who deserves a wider readership.The TLS The Brittle Sea spans a sleek twenty years. Gesturing equally backwards and forwards, it marks Henrys quiet rise as a major lyric poet while whetting the appetite for what is sure to be a very rich later career.Poetry Review Paul Henry is the poet I wish I could be. If I ever meet a genie and get three wishes, Im asking for his musicality, his use of back-story and his ability to create the most haunting resonance.Sheenagh Pugh With the purity of a sixteenth-century poet, Paul Henry lets fall his beautiful lyrics like cloaks in the mud of every day.

Effortless epiphanies and images gradually break open, releasing a strange power, a dark ocean of longing and loss. His poetry deepens our perception of the world.Hugo Williams.