Safety in Numbers

This is not the time for adultery.
Your lover will fail to be impressed,
not so much by the face mask
and stale musk of sanitizing gel,
but your flouting of the rules.

At once funny and moving, Safety in Numbers is the new collection from the nation's favourite poet. Traversing new yet timeless terrain with his signature wit and intimacy, Roger McGough brings to life the very strangeness of our times

From lost tongues and violins to rising oceans, from adulterers in lockdown to ghosts in line, we may live in dark times and yet find ourselves laughing. From surprising angles and with unexpected voices, McGough, "a trickster you can trust", reveals the telling moments of our lives.

PRAISE FOR ROGER MCGOUGH

"A witty and ingenious chronicler of British life with a deftness and agility that is hard to beat" Poetry Society

"The patron saint of poetry" Carol Ann Duffy

"McGough has done for poetry what champagne does for weddings" Time Out