Small Mechanics - Lorna Crozier

I have mentioned before that I find it challenging to review poetry books.  I don't know enough about poetry to be able to write an insightful analysis.  I can tell you if I like something or if I don't, but I can't necessarily tell you why.  That being said, I have read more poetry this year than is my wont.

There is a fun story to how I acquired this book.  I was visiting McNally Robinson bookstore in Winnipeg a couple of summers ago and was amazed at the selection of books.  There was not only a poetry section, but a Canadian poetry section.  And so I had to celebrate this fact by buying a book, and this was the one that I chose.  Unfortunately it took me a couple of years before picking it up to read.

I did like this book.  I read it over the course of several months, beginning at an Advent retreat last November.  It was the perfect book to bring to that retreat.  The poems are short and they tend to present a vivid image.  I was sitting by a window in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic overlooking the Halifax Harbour; and the understanding was that if you were out of the conference room, you didn't want to talk.  I read a poem, then pondered it while looking out at the rainy day outside.

My favourite poem in the collection, one that I have shared with several of my friends, is "A New Religion," and it begins:

If I were called in
          to construct a new religion
I should make use of cats.

Several would have fur
between their toes - Maine Coons perhaps -
so they could re-enact the miracle
          and walk on snow
without falling through...

Theology and cats - what could be more perfect?!

This was a quiet, gentle, and occasionally delightful collection.  Nothing too earth-shattering, but I enjoyed it enough that when I saw another collection of Lorna Crozier's poetry in a used book store, I didn't hesitate to buy it.

 

This is book 13/13 for the Canadian Book Challenge hosted by The Book Mine Set.