In Short of Breath, Vivien Jones finds music in the luter's detritus, the lament of the planet Pluto, the chatter of two fat ladies in a hair salon, graffiti in a rural bus shelter, the craftsmen's saw rip-cutting, cross-cutting, the sigh of scissors, the creaking oak wood, the rhythm of the breathing of an asthmatic child. These beautifully observed poems are full of insight into the joy and sadness of being human. Vivien Jones lives on the north Solway shore in Scotland. Her short stories and poetry have been widely published and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and Radio Scotland. She regularly leads writing projects for new writers, and is currently a Literature Animateur in Dumfries & Galloway. Short of Breath is her second collection of poetry. "Vivien Jones has a sharp eye and a sharp ear. She is fascinated by the magic and the mystery of craft and art. Her own consummate craft shines through every poem in this collection." John Burns - past editor of Cencrastus, writer and critic. "The best poetry sharpens the reader's awareness and perception, and Vivien's writing achieves this across a diverse range of topics - reflections on time and its passage, love and loss, the joys of the natural world, the dense particularities of craftsmanship. She brings to her work an empathic, humanising and sensuous intelligence, alert and insightful, and lanced by wit and humour." Angus Macmillan - literary editor of Southlight