Published by Phantom Page, Swords is the second book of poetry by Paul Busst. Written over a two year period, this latest collection of poems explores the authenticity of memory and the dream-like states we inhabit, how we create narratives around the significant events we remember, moments that come and go yet still remain, places where we have been and not been, the sadness and joy of the connections made with people we meet and sometimes know.

Recurring themes of literature, music, art, mythology, cinema, current affairs, social commentary, folklore, philosophy and environment are interwoven to reflect the unresolved nature of life and how we define cultural and personal identity against the backdrop of ever-increasing political uncertainty. From the problem of Königsberg to the German expressionist Käthe Kollwitz, from supernatural encounters in Baginton to the social divisions of Brexit Britain, from Hannah Arendt's essential action of unfixing the fixed past to T. S. Eliot's 'Burnt Norton' and the subsequent heartache of Emily Hale, Swords is a story of living between the past and the uncertain future while affirming the reality we construct and revise throughout our lives, forever haunted by what is known and imagined.