As the title suggests, this collection explores the collision of two beliefs taken from the realm of Christianity, the Good News of salvation (the poem from which the collection takes its name begins with a "Young woman delivering the word / door to door") and the ultimate destruction of humanity, specifically the wicked portions of humanity. Reactions to that dual message of hope and terror are at the root of these observations, or, at least, they take this seeming paradoxical conflation as a starting point.
It is a rather cynical, sometimes funny, sometimes tender, exploration along a dark theme. The poems contain a good deal of (rather dark) insights about humanity, but they're infused with enough humour that one never feels caught in a maelstrom of dark thoughts (have I mentioned dark?); one can't despair while reading "The Hypochondriac Flies to Mexico," for example. And, in the end, dark or not, it's just great poetry.
From the first poem, "Advisory," which provides us with a witty parody of t.v. and film censor warnings, and through to the last line of the last poem, "Envoi," McOrmond captivates with tone and image (as good poets are wont to do). Biting, at times, sarcastic, there are moments that feel like a poetic lesson in contemporary apathy. But McOrmond's pithy, sometimes aphoristic, approach compels throughout.
There are lines wonderfully apt ("the jetty / sliding past us like a film strip"), images of delightfully congruous incongruity ("Cold, bone's / tuning fork"), fits of wisdom and folly ("Accustomed to instant gratification, / we wanted our apocalypse now"), telling observations ("Now the monsters / are out of the closet and the wolves // wear wolves' clothing"), and often the speaker's voice is undeniably callous. The eyes we're looking through in this collection are keeping their distance, voices measuring themselves against futility. But like the musicians playing away while the boat sinks, these poems keep their collective chin up to the end.
There are poems that explore a variety of end-time scenarios. Poems with sections partitioned in quick shots. Poems that make use of McOrmond's versatility with voice. Poems that inevitably occupy one's thoughts long after the last page turns.
Disturbing, humorous, well-crafted, a fascinating collection.
* Much thanks to Brick Books for the review copy!!
2 scribble(s) in the margin:
It is always a let-down when a writer we love gives us a work that we don't love. I'm happy to hear that this one didn't disappoint. I really should read more poetry and don't know why I don't. I'll look out for McOrmond the next time I'm at the library (which will probably be on Saturday) and see if I can find him there.
Yes, it's an awful feeling to be let down by one's own expectations. But so so good when it doesn't happen! :)
I hope some of McOrmond's work is at the library there and you can give him a try, and I hope you like him too. . . but one never knows with poetry.
Steve McOrmond is one of my favourite contemporary Canadian poets (I love poets who play about with language and line without making it seem gimmicky or pretentious). My short list of favourite contemporary Canadian poets would include McOrmond, Anne Compton, Don Domanski, Sue Sinclair, Don McKay. There are others out there doing interesting things, too, but those are the poets I return to most often.
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