Joachim Matschoss is a poet, novelist and a dramatist and, above all, he is an old friend. I was delighted when he asked me to comment on his latest poetry collection, Thinking in Fragments. www.joachimmatschoss.com

Thinking in Fragments is yet another milestone in the vibrant, artistic life of Joachim Matschoss. Born in Germany, living in Melbourne and capturing whole chunks of human experience in beautifully crafted, lyrical language is the enduring charm of this book. His language keeps pace with dazzling imagery as he moves from continent to continent, country to country, city to city, place to place, detail to detail.

Thinking in Fragments. I felt the warmth and breath of a nun’s smile as she rides along on her bicycle in Slovakia. There’s cat’s under a table in Greece. He says Farewell in Hamburg; is “lost for words in Melbourne” in his “home away from home” and “ what better is there but springtime?” by the river Wye.

This book bubbles. We dart from a bar in Portugal to goat’s cheese in Greece to a family in Germany to Gypsies in Rome or morning in Venice. The poet’s pen is a camera scared to leave a crumb unsnapped.

And despite all the movement, we are constantly reminded that human existence is precious and fragile. In the opening poem, A Woman, a Cemetery in Singapore, there are “no future plans/just a bunch of fresh flowers/for now.” We read of “grey” days in Hamburg and a brother: “once he laughed/who has failed?”

The book ends in “Lost for Words” – a sombre note. “They speak English here”/ Tschuess!” To whom or what is he saying goodbye? English?

Terry McDonagh is an Irish poet living in Hamburg and Ireland: www.terry-mcdonagh.com