A BOOK of prose and poetry reflecting the disastrous foot and mouth epidemic which blighted whole communities last year has been published by a West Devon man.
?Cleave? contains works which vividly convey the state of his community during the outbreaks and the controversial culling policy.
The stark writing describes personal loss, grief and rage against the language of MAFF officials and army clean-up squads.
Mr Johnson witnessed the foot and mouth epidemic first-hand. Exbourne was surrounded by parishes, hamlets, villages and towns which lost all livestock during the outbreak.
Cleave is Mr Johnson?s sixth book of poetry. He is also editor of The Collected Works of Sean Rafferty, a poet who kept the Duke of York pub in Iddesleigh for 27 years.
Cleave costs £6.50 post free and is available from Exeter Museum bookshop.