Hot on the heels of her previous collection Men Who Feed Pigeons, Selima Hill's Women in Comfortable Shoes is the 21st book of poetry from "the UK's Emily Dickinson". This collection presents eleven contrasting but well-fitting sequences of short poems relating to women, including:Fishface, inwhich adisobedient young girl is sent to a Catholic convent school to give her mother a break;Fridge,in which trucks, geese and fridges speak of death, grief and absence; andGirls without Hamsters,which deals with an older woman's obsession with a spider-legged young man. Writing with her trademark wit and originality, Selima Hill looks closely at the complications and contradictions that define our lives and relationships.

Table of Contents:
Fishface 25 My Mother with a Pair of Scissors 25 The Green Bear 26 Ponies 26 The Boiled Egg 26 Good Morning, Reverend Mother 27 Wasps 27 Real Cherries 27 Edith 28 The Blessed Virgin Mary’s Ears 28 Melted Chocolate 29 What Other Things? 29 Mother Mary 30 Mountaineering 30 People in Taxis 31 What to Wear in Bed 32 My Mother on the Verge of Tears 32 Lambs 33 Clocks 33 The Man in the Veil 34 The Toot of the Jag 34 The Word Laburnum 35 Rounders 35 Ants 36 This Nasty Chair 36 Switzerland 37 Fishface 37 Zvuv 38 Notes My Friend Weasel 40 Perfection 40 The Plait 40 The New Assistant Matron 41 Flamingos 41 The Daughter of the Chauffeur 42 My Mother Visits My Father 42 Gravel in Our Hair 42 The Pilot 43 Those Who Love Their Fathers 43 The Queen 43 What We Do After Church 44 One Hot Day 44 Tennis 44 Horses 45 The Shimmering Plains of Africa 45 Golf 46 Out of Reach in Their Enormous Coats 46 Hula-hooping on the Log-shed Roof 47 Rabbit Pie 47 Hairbrushes 47 Brigitte Bardot 48 Summer Term 48 Sherbet Lemons 49 People at a Cat Show 49 Mosquitos 49 Lights Out 50 My Friend’s Uncle’s Tortoise 50 Young Ladies 50 Rudolf Nureyev’s Hair 51 Swimming in the Lake 51 Sunday 52 Mothers, Mothers, Mothers 52 Candelabra 52 Summer 53 Violets 53 Fleas 53 Marriage 54 Mouse 54 End-of-term Concert 55 Train 55 Toilets, Waterloo Station 55 Uzbekistan 56 The House Susan and Me 59 The New Girl 59 Her Bedside Locker 59 The Horse 60 Her Late Mother’s Mason Pearson Hairbrush 60 Like Painted Barges 60 Without Sin 61 A Man with a Palm 62 The Love of One Potato for Another 62 The Blood-stained Mower 63 Disobedience 63 Her Green-and-white-striped Dress 64 The Lesson 64 Sailing 65 Acne 65 Flapjacks 65 Pig 66 Her Father’s Car 66 The Art Galleries and Churches of Central Europe 67 Her Little Suitcases 67 Along the Fringes of This Dazzling World 68 Bedsit 68 Solid as a Rock 69 Curd 69 Tinned Fish Dolly 73 When I Was a Girl I Was Adorable 73 Mother Mary 74 Olivia on the Coach 74 Mrs Potter the Cook 75 Georgina’s Mother 75 My Friend Eva 76 Lucinda in the Wood 76 Great-Aunt T. 77 Miss Gee, Matron 77 Bernadette Upstairs 78 Doctor Kay 78 Mrs Lawrence, Landlady 79 Sophia, Prefect 79 Cousin Helen 79 Miss de Vos, Headmistress 80 Marta My Room-mate 80 Kitty in Term-time 81 The Woman on the Mountain 81 Mrs A., Abandoned 81 Carlotta, the Pianist 82 Lizzie, Widow 82 Jean, Out-patient 83 My Friend Annie 84 Edna in the Loo 84 Penny in the Opposite Bed 84 Billie My Rival 85 Angelina, My Tutor 85 Isabel, My New Boss 86 Dr Davey 86 Linda My Mother with a Beetle in Her Hair 88 Owls 88 My Uncle the Doctor 89 My Mother’s Hands 90 The Man with Tiny Books 90 Winter Afternoons at the Pool 91 My Mother Wearing More than One Coat 91 The Pool Attendant at Night 92 The Man Who Looks Like a Baby 92 The Woman from the Nail Bar 93 Walnut 93 The Girl Who Stroked Cows 94 Her One Desire 94 The Stranger on the Bus 95 Different Kinds of Honey 96 My Mother’s Daughter 96 The Bony Woman with the Tiny Waist 97 My Mother and the Sheep 97 Looking at Each Other’s Breasts in the Changing-room 98 My Mother as a Daisy 98 Café in the Snow 99 The Man with Snow-white Skin 100 A Woman with a Bunch of Red Roses 100 Having Fun with Babies 101 An Old Man Blue with Cold 102 The Woman with the Plait 102 Rabbits 103 Friday Night at the Swimming-pool 104 The Man in Purple Swimming-trunks 104 The Photograph of My Dog in My Duffle-bag 105 A Very Dark Blue 105 The Silent Couple No One Really Knows 106 The Woman in the Salmon-pink Underwear 106 Delicate Questions from the Young Doctor 107 Expensive Swimwear 108 No More Potatoes Fridge 110 The Beach 110 Rabbits 111 Tiny Children 111 The Letter 112 Other People’s Mothers 112 My Father Dreams He is a Lorry 113 Men with Saws 113 Standing in the Presence of My Father 114 My Father’s Roses 114 My Father’s Death 115 A Dream of Forgiveness 115 Kate 116 Being Fast Asleep in the Daytime 116 J.J. 117 M. 117 My Friend H. 118 Getting Used To It 119 Babies with Buckets 120 The Person in the Drawing-room 120 The Goose 121 How To Be Tidy 121 Maybe I Should Give It a Try 122 My Mother Playing Tennis 123 Babs 124 The Dead 124 Telepathy 125 The Room 126 Her Being Dead My Spanish Swimsuit 128 The Earwig 128 My Little Sister 128 The Box of Assorted Plasters 129 Tea on the Lawn 129 My Father, God 129 Betrayed 130 Saluki 130 Shadow 130 Which Is Worse? 131 My Pet 131 Smarties 131 Adults 132 My Mother and Small Children 132 Courting 132 Ringlets 133 My Father 133 Rabbits 133 The Head of the Table 134 The Girls in the Churchyard 134 My Spanish Swimsuit 134 Shoulders 134 Yes to the Carpenter 135 My Father’s Rabbit 135 I’m Sorry It Has Had to Be Like This 135 Moths 136 My Girlfriends’ Boyfriends 136 My Father is Right 136 The Lonely Dog in the Empty House The Chauffeur 139 Tiny Girls Singing Hymns 139 Girls in Shorts 139 The Draughtsman 140 Fish 140 Shells 141 The Land of Fun 141 My Sister’s Bedroom 142 Ducks 142 Rotty the Rottweiler 143 Smile, Smile 143 Marquetry 144 I Send My Sister Cards 144 Smile, Smile, Smile 145 The Wedding-dress 145 In the Hotel Bedroom Something Soft 146 Hippo 146 Ann 147 The Suitcase 147 Tommy 148 Those Who Choose Not to Have Husbands 148 Our Sparkling Eyes 148 Queue 149 My Sister’s Nipples 149 Tinkle, Tinkle 149 Tea-time 150 She Moves Away 150 Horses’ Ears 150 St Petersburg 151 The Photograph 151 Wild Horses 152 Georges 152 Lips 152 Gladioli Girls without Hamsters 1 | Dancing Lessons for the Very Shy 156 The Visitor (1) 156 Dawn 156 The Little Beanie 157 The Handsome Spider 157 Tiny and Forlorn 157 The Visitor (2) 158 The Sofa 158 The Wasp 159 The Top Two Things I Like About You 159 The Bath (1) 159 I Know It Isn’t Right 160 Cats in Crates 160 The Most Important Thing 160 A Person with a Key 161 The Visitor (3) 161 The Crane 161 The Ginger Cat 162 Us 162 The Fly 162 The Suitcase 163 Elephants 163 The Man with a Pomegranate 163 The Coat 164 The Giraffe 164 The Hat 165 Tenderness 165 The Visitor (4) 165 When I Saw You in the Street I Fled 166 Silence 166 The Man I Mustn’t Meet 166 The Path to the Woods 167 Knees 167 Although You’re Shy 167 The Dachshund 168 The Snail 168 What I Did When I Saw You Again After So Long 169 Swimming at Dawn 169 Attention 169 The Bath (2) 170 Her Only Son 170 Violins 170 Your Rock 171 Peacefully Tucked Away 171 My Life With You 171 One Hundred Words 172 Never Love a Mathematician 172 Grasses 173 Precious Jewels 173 Most of the Time 173 Socks in the Snow 174 If You Were a Pig 174 Everything Makes Me Think of You 175 The Enchantment 175 Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age by Bohumil Hrabal 175 The Visitor (5) 176 In a Calm Way 176 The Person on Our Right 176 The Rat 177 Articulated Lorries 177 The Bath (3) 177 The Clock 177 Nose 178 Shrieks of Laughter from Inside the House 178 Completely Out of the Blue 2 | My Mother’s Knives 180 T. 180 Mole 180 My Mother’s Knives 181 The Older Woman 181 T.’s Room 182 Bucket 182 Please Forgive Me 183 Tiers of Expensive Trainers 183 I Worry 183 The Visitor 184 Into the Depths of the Sea 184 His Tiny Mouth 185 Through the Damp Woods 185 Bedtime 185 People Won’t Like It 186 Chick 186 Fish 186 Paint 187 What Is Longing? 187 Beetles 187 Heron 188 Certain Older Women 188 Hope 188 A Precious Living Man 189 And To Agree 189 My Father 190 Confessions of a Fly 190 The Courting Spider Purrs 190 Cranny 191 Dreams 191 Mouse 192 Round and Round the Woods 192 If T. Is Like a God 193 When Older Women Talk About Their Lovers 193 Legs 194 Every Time You Move 194 Cranefly 195 T. on the Beach 195 When He’s Quiet 195 Dog 196 My Obsession with T. 196 The Acrobat 3 | The Passion Fruit Hotel 198 Record-breaking Kisses 198 My Mother and Hotels 199 The Passion Flower Hotel 199 The House on the Hill 200 And Be Ye Lift Up, Ye Everlasting Doors 200 My Mother Was Right 200 The Lovesick Toad 201 Crayfish 201 Ducklings 202 The Goose 202 Way Up in the Heavens 202 Fathers and Sons 203 Honky 203 Chandeliers 203 Margaret 204 Sunday Afternoon at the Beach 204 T’s Neck 204 What People Think About 205 The Slug 205 Shoebill 206 My Friend T. 206 Wiry 206 The Holiday 207 The Lizard 207 The Oyster 208 Soft Upturned Bellies 208 My Mother’s Voice 208 The Woman in Tiny Shorts 209 My Boring Uncle 209 What I Really Want to Know Reduced to a Quivering Jelly 213 The Red MG 213 The Fox 214 The Blanket 214 Quivering Jelly 215 A New Pair of Shorts 216 Lime-ade 217 Men in Shorts 217 Duckling 218 Oral Sex 218 The China Doll 219 Walkies 219 The Penis of a Large Horse 220 The Top of the Hill 220 Mother 221 Lola 221 The Sponge Cake 221 The Ambulance 222 The Tennis Dress 222 The Pearl Necklace 223 The Lagonda 223 The Question 223 The Smell of Cows 224 Crying for No Reason 224 The Sultan’s Fragrant Concubines 225 Truffles 225 Yellow Ducks 226 The Leotard 226 The New Pair of Shoes 227 The Silver Hair 227 What Vera Needs 228 Arboriculture 228 Froth 229 The Suitcase 229 The Lovely Nurses 230 Vera in the Bathroom with Her Puzzle Book Dressed and Sobbing 232 Woman on a Sofa 232 Orange Juice 233 Large and Small and Medium-sized Facecloths 233 The Woman in the Bathroom Mirror 234 What’s That Hand Doing in My Sock 235 A Grandmother in Jeans 236 The Pianist 237 Women in Blankets 238 A Story about Moose 239 The Visitor 240 Pies 240 Lying on my Back in the Dark 241 Forgiveness 241 Naughty Girls in Dark Woods 242 Suitcase 244 Hootie 245 How to Attract Men 246 The Woman on the Bus 247 My Mother’s Naked Body 248 Semolina 249 Athletic, Chaste, Untroubled 249 Divorcee 250 Lilies 250 Howls of Laughter 251 Women in Pyjamas 251 Violet 252 The Rooms Downstairs 252 How to Float 253 Little Squeaks 253 True Love 254 Cheese 254 Dressed and Sobbing