Tenderman

by Tim Bowling

"I grew up in a blue-collar town ten minutes down the road from a white-collar town. And I've spent most of my life uncomfortable in both places."

With these opening words, accomplished poet Tim Bowling outlines the central tension that acts as a vital force in his newest book, Tenderman--the dichotomy between the sensitive poetic observer and the tough, working-class subject. Bowling returns again to the shores of his BC hometown that exert such a strong hold on his imagination, but through his focus on the tenderman figure, he also demonstrates wry self-awareness in doing so. The tenderman (a crewman on a salmon packing boat), who represents a fiercely independent everyman, acts as unintentional muse to the collection; its poems are often delivered through dialogues between poet and fisherman, reminiscences of their shared childhoods, or narratives delivered by the tenderman himself.

As always, Bowling's verse is stunning in its haunting portrayal of West Coast imagery, depicting both natural beauty ("the Spanish silhouette/ crouched in warm salt dark") and the grim realities of fishing ("The kicks and slaps of a hold of dying fish--/ hands in an auditorium") with effortless grace.

Genres: Poetry, Canada

79 pages

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Andrea Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Bowling is an insightful and intelligent poet. His writing takes you into a life that you may not be familiar with but at the end of reading the collection you feel as though you have a deeper understanding of the soul of someone who does something in life that you have never done. There are so many beautiful lines that inspire me. I will share one from a poem entitled An Hour of Twitter, Facebook and Thou: "Tenderman, let's go back to childhood, that thin glass.
Can I be your friend?" p.53 of this amazing collection. We have so many gifted writers and poets in Canada!I love this title :"We Walked Out Early To Murder the Sun". Wow! That's only the title of one of his works in this collection. Thank-you Tim Bowling for your brilliance! Poetry can tell a story.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tenderman of the title of Tim Bowling‘s tenth poetry collection (Tenderman, Nightwood Editions, 2011) is literally a seasoned — and salty — crewman on a Fraser River salmon packing boat. But, as becomes clear in the poems — not least in “Real Men Read Jane Austen” Bowling, an actual tenderman of slight ability in youth, is very much a Tender Man as he approaches the end of a half century on Life’s River . . .

Read more about Bowling's exquisite Tenderman at: http://behindthehedge.wordpress.com/2...