And Yet
Poems
John Steffler
- A
- former
- Poet
- Laureate
- of
- Canada
- and
- finalist
- for
- the
- Griffin
- Poetry
- Prize
- returns
- with
- a
- wide-ranging
- new
- collection
- of
- poems.CBC
- Best
- Canadian
- Poetry
- of
- 2020In
- John
- Steffler's
- luminous
- collection,
- And
- Yet,
- dreams,
- memory
- and
- desire
- are
- forms
- of
- wilderness
- that
- burst
- into
- our
- daily
- lives,
- inspiring
- us
- to
- see
- ourselves
- and
- the
- world
- anew.
- Exuberant,
- powerful,
- even
- prescient,
- the
- poems
- confront
- the
- unknown
- and
- unexpected
- around
- and
- within
- us
- and
- call
- up
- our
- impulse
- to
- resist
- certainty
- and
- finality.
- The
- flimsiest
- shelter
- might
- seem
- best;
- a
- trail
- guide's
- house
- is
- revealed
- as
- a
- forest
- beyond
- names.
- What
- is
- outside
- might
- be
- most
- desired;
- a
- suit
- of
- clothes
- gazing
- into
- a
- mirror
- longs
- to
- become
- an
- iguana.
- In
- the
- title
- poem,
- a
- road-weary
- traveller
- comes
- in
- sight
- of
- the
- longed-for
- home--yet
- at
- the
- last
- minute
- turns
- away.
- Restless
- in
- their
- own
- language,
- the
- poems
- muster
- the
- impact
- of
- direct
- sensory
- experience
- and
- remind
- us
- what
- it
- means
- to
- live
- closer
- to
- the
- physical
- world.
- At
- times
- their
- attenuated
- forms
- acquire
- the
- anxious
- beauty
- of
- Giacometti
- sculptures.
- Our
- capacity
- for
- surprising
- change,
- these
- poems
- suggest,
- is
- both
- a
- cause
- for
- caution
- and
- a
- reason
- to
- hope
- that
- we
- can
- reinvent
- ourselves
- and
- transform
- our
- destructive
- technological culture.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
