Poetry review: Antidotes to Dissolution by Patrick Jones

Onwy Gower

‘Antidotes to Dissolution’ is a powerful, two-part poetry collection written by Patrick Jones and is primarily centred around the genocide in Palestine and considers complicity surrounding it, the title offering a remedy for the horrors currently pervading the world. Patrick Jones earns the right to do this as he weaves beauty with destruction, hope with loss, and, most importantly, grief with love:

“I leave the door ajar,

my edges are porous

inviting the light —“

Divide

The divide within the collection elevates the experience as Patrick Jones separates conflicts, from the genocide in Palestine from the personal experiences of the poet. Part I: The Heart is a Security Risk, which was shortlisted for the Poetry Wales Award 2026, takes on an accusatory tone as Patrick Jones writes out his outrage, whilst Part II: Hold This Dust is the calm after the storm, being ‘a love letter to Palestine; a small act of resistance, of solidarity with the Palestinian people who have been subjected to so much death, destruction, pain and oppression.’ Part II takes on the full weight of this anger and transforms it into images of hope despite the violence of war.

“The olive branch/The hand grenade:

  a cataract crusade from a world gone blind to love.”

The poet

Patrick Jones has worked as a poet for over 30 years, but this is the second collection derived from his poignant visit to the West Bank, after which he stated, “I felt helpless. Useless. A voyeur. Could poetry make a difference? The brave beautiful people we met told us ‘Please go back and tell our stories’. So, that’s what I did.” Antidotes to Dissolution takes its readers on a journey through Occupied Palestine, into Patrick Jones’ own history and weighs the worth of history in times of conflict. 

“This desolation

appropriation

Isolation

Occupation  Demolition  Forced migration  Their violation 

Exploitation  Dehumanisation

No condemnation  Or conversation

Representation  Or recognition”

The experience of visiting the West Bank had a profound impact on him as Jones explained in an article for Nation.Cymru: ‘After visiting the Occupied West Bank…with Martyn Joseph’s Let Yourself Trust what I witnessed will haunt me forever – Lulu, a mother telling of how she were contacted at 5 am by an Israeli soldier to tell her that her home will be demolished in 2 hours – which it was as she and her little children watched. Or Daoud, who was forced to build his home underground on a mountain his ancestors had owned and farmed for 300 years as the Israeli government had deemed it illegal and adjudicated settlements could be built there – he said ‘I will not be your enemy’- makes me cry when I think of it.’

Hope

Despite the despair he has witnessed, hope is the ultimate theme within this collection as Jones manages to shine a beacon of it despite the turmoils he has seen. He does this most expertly within the poem, ‘Hold On (An Inventory of Hope)’ as he beautifully states:

“And though we may sometimes

Have blackholes in our minds

Mostly we glitter like galaxies”

Structure

Patrick Jones structures his visceral poetry to physically show the rhythm intended, especially within the crafty spacing and line breaks. Being shown how it should be read also envelops the reader in its messaging: Jones not only tells the readers to breathe, but allows them the time to do so as well. 

Above all, Patrick Jones somehow manages to convey all this without ever losing sight of the devastations which need to be addressed. His calls to action are never lost within his accounts of own history and family. Instead, the ongoing tragedy in Palestine is emphasised even as his innate empathy shines through this urgent marvel of a collection. As the Guardian critic Jude Rogers puts it on the cover, ‘Patrick Jones’ poems show us the power of a heart clawed open, bloody with anger, despair, grief and love.’ 

‘Antidotes to Dissolution’ by Patrick Jones is published by Parthian Poetry and is available to buy at all good bookshops.