Poetry review – VISITING HOURS: Wendy French examines an unusual mix of poems and pictures by Michel & Gillie Robic, arising from an anxious time spent in hospital
Visiting Hours
Doodles by Michel Robic & Words by Gillie Robic
Clayhanger Press
ISBN 13: 978-1-917017-07-7
38 pp
Clayhanger Press knew what they were doing when they said Yes to publishing this delightful pamphlet of ‘doodles’ (in truth often drawings) by Michel Robic accompanied with poems by his wife, the poet, Gillie Robic.
There is a delightful introduction to the book written by both Robics. Gillie tells us that after Michel’s perilous stay in hospital she saw his doodles, as he calls them, on the backs of envelopes and began to play with words and ideas. Poems then started to emerge, some playful and others more serious with dark undertones.
Michel Robic says that no actual events are depicted in these doodles, although some of them may have been prompted by hospital memories. The same applies to nightmares and daydreams represented here. The first drawing to accompany the introductions is of a man stranded on a desert island surrounded by cats, a bird and with small boats sailing by. I cannot do justice to the picture. You will have to see it for yourselves! But it might correspond to the feeling of isolation and exposure we can have when an unplanned, emergency stay in hospital is forced upon us. And the title “Visiting Hours” speaks volumes. Visit implies a guest: but who is the guest – the patient or the person visiting?
there’s a lovely sun out there
there’s a lovely moon out there
there’s a bushel of fear in here
run fast as you can from here
Gillie uses rhyme, nonsense words and riddles to follow the sense of the picture. Each piece of writing accompanies one of Michel’s doodles. There are no individual titles to either drawing or poem. One page leads to the next delightful encounter with words and doodles and monsters and birds. There is often a feeling of being out of control in the picture, but the words sustain the reader. I use ‘reader’ deliberately here as there is so much to read in each picture even before we begin on the words, which can be out of control but contained by the doodle. This is a real collaboration in the true sense of the word: it is a symbiotic enterprise.
chomp chomp chomp mgnah-mgnah slurp burp bleep drip
poot pudle glug blag brag maw more red head sore bed …
The inscription to the book reads, To those in peril’ which are words taken from the hymn. ‘Dear Lord and father of mankind’. This is a poetry book with a difference, fun, serious, surreal but firmly rooted in reality. It is one to pick up, enjoy and recommend to friends.
whatever he’s needing
he’s in bed and bleeding
eye balls and fangs
dinner-time pangs
it’s feeding
time at the zoo
Wendy French’s latest collection is Bread Without Butter (Rockingham Press 2019)
Mar 11 2025
London Grip Poetry Review – Michel & Gillie Robic
Poetry review – VISITING HOURS: Wendy French examines an unusual mix of poems and pictures by Michel & Gillie Robic, arising from an anxious time spent in hospital
Clayhanger Press knew what they were doing when they said Yes to publishing this delightful pamphlet of ‘doodles’ (in truth often drawings) by Michel Robic accompanied with poems by his wife, the poet, Gillie Robic.
There is a delightful introduction to the book written by both Robics. Gillie tells us that after Michel’s perilous stay in hospital she saw his doodles, as he calls them, on the backs of envelopes and began to play with words and ideas. Poems then started to emerge, some playful and others more serious with dark undertones.
Michel Robic says that no actual events are depicted in these doodles, although some of them may have been prompted by hospital memories. The same applies to nightmares and daydreams represented here. The first drawing to accompany the introductions is of a man stranded on a desert island surrounded by cats, a bird and with small boats sailing by. I cannot do justice to the picture. You will have to see it for yourselves! But it might correspond to the feeling of isolation and exposure we can have when an unplanned, emergency stay in hospital is forced upon us. And the title “Visiting Hours” speaks volumes. Visit implies a guest: but who is the guest – the patient or the person visiting?
there’s a lovely sun out there there’s a lovely moon out there there’s a bushel of fear in here run fast as you can from hereGillie uses rhyme, nonsense words and riddles to follow the sense of the picture. Each piece of writing accompanies one of Michel’s doodles. There are no individual titles to either drawing or poem. One page leads to the next delightful encounter with words and doodles and monsters and birds. There is often a feeling of being out of control in the picture, but the words sustain the reader. I use ‘reader’ deliberately here as there is so much to read in each picture even before we begin on the words, which can be out of control but contained by the doodle. This is a real collaboration in the true sense of the word: it is a symbiotic enterprise.
The inscription to the book reads, To those in peril’ which are words taken from the hymn. ‘Dear Lord and father of mankind’. This is a poetry book with a difference, fun, serious, surreal but firmly rooted in reality. It is one to pick up, enjoy and recommend to friends.
whatever he’s needing he’s in bed and bleeding eye balls and fangs dinner-time pangs it’s feeding time at the zooWendy French’s latest collection is Bread Without Butter (Rockingham Press 2019)