As part of Snakeskin's 25th anniversary, the editor has published a new collection of his poems. George Simmers is old, and he is bookish, and he makes no apology for it. That's the way he is. Zeitgeisty critics these days tend to heap praise on the glamorously young and streetwise, but George insists that old age and bookishness are also fit subjects for poetry. Hence the book. The book is in three sections.  The first is a selection from The Songs of the Old Man, poems investigating age, and finding it sometimes distressing, sometimes consoling. The next section is a collection of poetical anecdotes about individual pensioners. For example, here's Margaret: Old Margaret, after Michael died, Knew she mustn't just sit inside And let her life wither away. She went to talks and joined guided walks Through bluebell woods in May. She signed for a class about painting on glass, And one shamefully glorious day Got terrifically drunk with an elderly hunk She met at the U3A. Then she became for an hour or two A Margaret Michael never knew And might not have understood. Though in time the hunk turned out rather a skunk (As she'd sort of suspected he would), She now faced the world with wings unfurled, With ‘I couldn’t’ replaced by ‘I could’. She thought: ‘I am me! I am female and free - And life, after all, can be good.’ The third section is Bookish. It is made up of poems about poetry, stories, academics, artists, and words. Some people will like them; some people probably won't. It is available from good booksellers, including Amazon. The list price is £8, the publisher is Snakeskin, and the ISBN is 978-1-716-48337-0 If you live in Great Britain, and would like a signed copy for £8, postage free, send me an email.