Category Archives: Poetry

Know Knot

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Francois Lachance

Beyond annoyance accidentals can trigger speculation. Take the McClelland and Stewart 1968 imprint of Black Night Window by John Newlove. The poem is called “There Are No Innocent People in Vancouver”. It begins: We all know that, or something like … Continue reading →

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Renovations

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Francois Lachance

“double / back again” It’s the line break that caught my attention in the poem “Essay: The Love of Old Houses” by Mark Doty here it’s proved that time requires a deeper, better verb than pass; it’s more like pool, … Continue reading →

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Bouquet

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Francois Lachance

Seemingly intimate with the ways of gardeners, Earle Birney in a poem about visiting for the first time Al Purdy’s Ameliasburg (collected in Rag and Boneshop) supplies a horticultural image in touch with the growing process: horsecrap-fattened peonies And Mark … Continue reading →

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Space Time Silences

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Francois Lachance

Frank Bidart in an interview with Christopher Hennessy If a poem’s any good, it must be a visceral experience. The way the eye moves down the page is physical. A body exists in space. A poem exists in space. Words … Continue reading →

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Long Deep Breath

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Francois Lachance

I have a bone to pick which is in keeping with the themes explored in Ceremonies for the Dead. Just what is the book designer trying to convey? The leading goes all wonky towards the end of a number of … Continue reading →

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Grandsons of Dr Seuss

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Francois Lachance

Mongrel Media has released on DVD three films by Michael Ondaatje. They include Sons of Captain Poetry (1970, 29 mins.) which documents the work and spirit of bpNichol (1944-88). One of the treats of the film is capturing bpNichol reciting/chanting … Continue reading →

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A Study of Achenes

Posted on September 27, 2009 by Francois Lachance

Compressed without the swathe of white space between lines and the indentations, the poem still conveys its subject: the strawberries that serve both as title and first line. STRAWBERRIES do not hide their seeds They scatter into their own bodies … Continue reading →

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Anchoring Freedom

Posted on September 26, 2009 by Francois Lachance

Mark Doty. Still Life With Oysters And Lemon. I found myself resisting intimacy as portrayed in the workings of breath and keen looking. This gesture of resistance had good reason — it was imitating what the author himself had done … Continue reading →

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Seeing Voicing

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Francois Lachance

Mark Doty. Still Life With Oysters And Lemon. As is my wont, I am reading a little bit backwards. Mark Doty arrives at these reflections on the relation between portrait and still life after having written about voice and breathing … Continue reading →

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Turns

Posted on September 23, 2009 by Francois Lachance

John Newlove’s “Brass Box. Spring. Time” in Black Night Window reminds me very much of the twists in the best of Sky Gilbert. I am not claiming influence of Newlove upon Gilbert but a kinship of theme where extravagance is … Continue reading →

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