Written in the aftermath of heartbreak and personal upheaval, Running Upon the Wires marks a striking shift in Kae Tempest's work.

Known first as a performance poet, playwright and rapper, Tempest turns here toward a quieter, more intimate lyric voice. These poems abandon public declaration for close observation, tracing grief, desire, memory and the slow, often uneven process of rebuilding a life after love. The result is less a dramatic narrative than an emotional weather system, attentive to the small moments in which transformation quietly takes place.

Although the poems retain Tempest's gift for rhythm and spoken cadence, they are noticeably more restrained than the work that established their reputation. The collection moves between urban landscapes, domestic interiors and fleeting encounters, finding tenderness in ordinary scenes while remaining alert to loneliness, class, vulnerability and the possibility of connection. Readers of contemporary poetry by Ocean Vuong, Raymond Antrobus or Mary Jean Chan will find much to admire here: direct without being simplistic, emotionally open without sentimentality, and written with a keen ear for how thought moves through the body.

2018 Picador Poetry paperback. Very good condition with light shelf wear and a clean, unmarked interior.