Making the Beds for the Dead

The title sequence of Making the Beds for the Dead charts the journey of the Foot and Mouth virus in 'the plague year'. Come from outer space, it travels - on a fox's paw, the beak of a kite and a crow and a buzzard - into the very heart of our lives. The poet includes personal, verses and stories from farmers in her family and neighbourhood. The open structure allows Gillian Clarke to include her...