ALT It's not very often we get to celebrate the arrival of a major 'new' Scottish poet, and even more rarely one so ... mature. But as you'll hear, their long incubation has worked to the great advantage of these poems. Poetry's current obsession with youth means that most poetry lacks all wisdom, to which there are no shortcuts. As well as their invention, wit, formal ease, their Yeatsian music and line - one is also simply wiser for reading Andrew's poems. How many books can we honestly claim that of the days? When I was reeling off Andrew's virtues there | was thinking how much that sounded like those of our dear mutual friend, the late Michael Donaghy. I can't pay Andrew a bigger compliment than to tell him Mikey would've loved this book. I know he's somewhere raising a pint in your direction tonight. He says it's water but I'm pretty sure it's straight vodka.