Summary of "To A Louse"
This poem was written as part of the Scottish Poetry Library "Addressing The Bard" project in 2009, and functions as a response to Robert Burns. Turnbull selected his poem because he felt that Burns was one of those poets whose work everyone feels they know and consequently quotes wrongly and out of context. "To A Louse" appealed to Turnbull because it made him laugh, and he loved the idea of lice as cattle roaming around in plantations of hair. It is cartoonish and the words sound made up which makes the poem very energetic and fun. He responds in the poem to the Burns original which he feels is the poetic version of an onion with lots of layers to peel back in search of the real meaning.
Summary of "Ode On A Grayson Perry Urn"
This poem considers modern society through an interpretive version of John Keats' classic Romantic poem. Grayson Perry is a twentieth century ceramics designer who produces, among other things, beautiful bowls, vases and urns decorated with pictures of scenes from modern life. The scenes on the urns seem oddly juxtaposed with the classical design of the urns themselves. The poem considers the art on an urn as a depiction of life and ideas that are suspended in time, which was one way in which Keats wanted to be remembered after his death. It also references the things that Turnbull believes his generation will be remembered for - certainly not anything as glamorous or romantic as we read about in a Keats poem. It is a poem about the generation gap, and how the older generation will never understand the younger generation, and vice versa.
Summary of "The Radioactive Kid"
This is Turnbull's take on writing a poem about the issues of pollution and global warming. The kid in question is radioactive because he is standing in the rain, and therefore being pelted not with simple rainwater but with all of the chemicals that we have pumped out into the atmosphere. In the poem he postulates that with each generation the DNA of the human is being altered by chemicals and pollutants. The child understands what is happening and wants to tell everyone about it but is absolutely sure that even if he does nobody will listen anyway. This poem makes the point that humans have a tendency to learn retroactively rather than using the knowledge that we have to alter our future behavior and save ourselves from a disaster.
