This book of collected poems has grown in power and complexity over the last few years, becoming what might be called a bonded fusion of defined intent – a sort of new magic that began to stray across its own borders. It grew into the natural spaces between the individual poems to create something approaching a loosely epic story of pseudo-mythology, semi-autobiography and a broad gathering of observation. Peter Hague certainly manages to inject into his work a constant newness of unfailing excitement and you will be hard pressed to find a work of poetry written in current times that is more inventive, creative or searching. ‘Summer With The Gods’ is a poet displaying a landmark development of his talent – one that will define a period of re-invention which began to take place around 2016. His life experience over the previous decades had provided him with a much greater understanding of who he was, and what his place in the world might be and it gathered a new energy to his work that had a lot of fuel in the tank. ‘Summer With The Gods’ is just a part of this gathering of words, yet stands alone as an entertainment, as much as anything – a poet beginning to stretch his legs and move forward. Other poems from this period and developed from it, will emerge in due course.