A knife so sharp its edge cannot be seen

by Erin Noteboom

A radiant collection that employs the lyric poem as a tool for scientific and emotional exploration.

Erin Noteboom's A knife so sharp its edge cannot be seen takes exact and exquisite measurement of what carries a voice through illness, grief, loss, and through the failures and triumphs of work and love. Various theories and hypotheses are tested in these sadness is knowledge and science "is only half a turn from love." Whether Noteboom is examining the life and work of physicist Marie Curie or compressing imagistic gems from plaintive, important questions like "What lasts?", there is everywhere in these poems a shadow-scratching curiosity, vital research, and an acknowledgement of the long waits in a life between discoveries. An essential marriage between the arts and science, A knife so sharp its edge cannot be seen is full of poems that readers will savour long after closing their eyes and raising the vial.

Genres: Poetry

94 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2023

Reviews

[Isobel · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked the ones where gender came up and the section "poems with movement toward the particular" very much, but there was a lot that i didn't feel like i quite got - that's how i tend to feel with a lot of poetry though, so nothing specific about this collection necessarily

[Zo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection was a delight! It’s history inspired poetry done right interspersed with some of the best of this decade’s Canadian poetry

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful and thoughtful poems!! really enjoyed this book