The Banality of Power by James Byrne
Poetry Book Society Recommendation Summer 2026 Esther Morgan In this meditation on flora

In this meditation on flora

His poems have appeared in Butcher’s Dog Magazine

& to Promote Recovery

there are quieter poems where the contrast between first and third worlds pricks the conscience as with the Brazilian cleaner

we all have our ownbeautiful universe

The Banality of Power by James Byrne <br><b>Poetry Book Society Recommendation Summer 2026</b> Esther Morgan In this meditation on floraPublished 31 May 2026 In The Banality of Power, James Byrne anatomises the everyday mechanics of harm, tracing how cruelty becomes procedure, how violence is normalised, and how authority hides in plain sight. These poems move from Eichmanns glass cage to boardrooms, tabloids, riots, outsourced pain and climate breakdown, always alert to the way institutions convert human lives into abstraction. Byrne braids political witness with history and myth,