Don’t Speak Easy

Don’t Speak Easy is Tom Jameson’s debut pamphlet. Its scope ranges from a childhood spent in the immediate wake of the Second World War to a projected future where death provides the opportunity to spin back to the very beginning of life at breakneck speed. Jameson’s skill as a poet and storyteller never loses sight of the fine grain of human experience that interlaces the thick boughs of history. This approach finds particular pathos with Spaced Out,  a poem that details a quiet personal tragedy at the time of the Apollo 11 moon landings.  The uneasy speech of the title doesn’t just refer to the difficulty of recollecting one’s own experiences, it also refers to the varying pressures that accost us for trying to speak in our true voice, especially that of his Northern dialect in Big Gob.  Despite the serious subject matter of some of the poems, Jameson’s wry sense of humour is always present, never losing sight of the funny side of his recollections, be it his awkward early loves or coffee addiction.