The poems of Ranald Macdonald show a unique imagination at work. His subjects are diverse, from the classical world of Egypt and Greece, to a celebration of nature, to the intimacies of personal relationships, all handled with a light, expert touch. The exploration is probing, but always sensitive, with an exquisite eye for the bright original image. From the entirely transparent, direct, statement, to complexities which take us into new emotional and intellectual territory, these poems have an impressive agility. There is a metaphysical quality to them which excites the mind, but their fine, gentle, knowing touch also stirs the heart. "..both the thought and the language are lucid and positive" Kathleen Raine, From The naming of the Beasts, Chapman Publishing 1996 "In these poems there are enquiry and wonder as well as a quiet spirituality which transcends the sectarianism of the European experience" Richard Montgomery, From Lapwing Publications, 2nd Collection "Mankind is the world's focus of meaning...though contentious humanism is a key...the book is saturated with religious consciousness." Basil du Tout, Lines review 143, December 1997 'The poems open the door to a realm that gives me deep spiritual peace. I feel so thankful that I found his words, they are a real treasure... I think he touched with his words a realm that is beyond words and that realm can never be destroyed, even when the words are missing." Annerose De Czuyenaire Royalties from this book are being donated to 'Cois Nore', the wonderful cancer support centre in Kilkenny, Ireland, from whom Ranald and his family received so much love and support during his illness. http: //www.coisnore.ie
About the Author: Ranald J Macdonald was born in 1955 in Edinburgh and educated at the Edinburgh Academy and the Edinburgh Rudolf Steiner School. He studied literature and philosophy at Aberdeen University, gaining an M.A in 1978. He studied speech, drama, poetry and gardening at Emerson College, East Grinstead, and in 1979-80 trained in speech and drama at the Chrysalis Theatre, London. Ranald subsequently taught at the Aberdeen Rudolf Steiner School until 1986 when he returned to live and work in Edinburgh until 1992, concentrating largely on writing poetry and drama. Three of Ranald's plays were performed in Edinburgh. His poems have been widely published in magazines including Chapman, Cencrastus, Lines Review, the Scotsman, The Spectator, Stand, Orbis and Verse. Chapman Publications published his first full length book, in their New Writing Series. In 1990 he was awarded a Writer's Bursary by The Scottish Arts Council. In 1992 he moved to Northern Ireland with his family, first working as a writer and gardener. Later he taught and was Chair of the College of Teachers at the Holywood Rudolf Steiner School near Belfast. He had two poetry collections published with Lapwing Publications in Belfast. Still in the 90's he set up his own business and, with Arts Council support, worked schools and other public bodies, introducing his own stories, poetry and drama. In 2002 Ranald moved to Kilkenny, in the Republic of Ireland, with his two sons; he felt a kinship with this artistically oriented town. His own deeper philosophical and poetical thought developed and he found the outlet in the internet. So www.lightonthepage.com began in January 2010. This continued serially until the diagnosis of a brain tumour in summer 2013. He died in April 2014. The painting on the front cover was one of many, painted when he could no longer find his words in the last weeks.