Red Earth: Poetry

by Rob Mclennan

A new collection by an award-winning poet In a matter of just a few years, Rob McLennan has produced seven collections of poetry. One of the most productive poets of his generation, he is able to reference a range of subjects in a small space, underwriting language in such a way that the reader becomes the lightning rod between the connections. McLennan is constantly in motion, quickly moving from point to point, whether in his writing, his publishing, or his travels. Reviewer Antje M. Rauwerda wrote in Paperplates magazine, this is "...the inner landscape of a Canadian poet interested in how words mean." In this new book, McLennan's focus is the Maritimes, specifically Prince Edward Island. The title red earth refers to the rust-colored soil that dominates the province.

97 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2003

About the author

Born in Ottawa, Canada’s glorious capital city, rob mclennan currently lives in Ottawa. The author of nearly thirty trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, he won the John Newlove Poetry Award in 2010, the Council for the Arts in Ottawa Mid-Career Award in 2014, and was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2012.

In Canadian Literature, Gordon Bölling praised his novel Missing Persons as “a welcome addition to the body of Canadian prairie fiction.” His collection of short fiction, The Uncertainty Principle has been described as: “Little flash fictions, some quirky, some funny, some touching. A fun read.” (Pearl Pirie). In a review on the ottawa poetry newsletter, Ryan Pratt wrote that “Thanks to mclennan’s discipline, our experience reading The Uncertainty Principle requires none. Organized to accommodate brief interactions (which, like the psychology behind bite-sized chocolate bars, results here in complete overindulgence), the book proves incessantly fresh, taken as a whole or in cursory, page-flipping handfuls.”

An editor and publisher, he runs above/ground press, Chaudiere Books, The Garneau Review (ottawater.com/garneaureview), seventeen seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics (ottawater.com/seventeenseconds), Touch the Donkey (touchthedonkey.blogspot.com) and the Ottawa poetry pdf annual ottawater (ottawater.com), as well as organizes the semi-annual ottawa small press book fair, which he co-founded in 1994. He spent the 2007-8 academic year in Edmonton as writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta, and regularly posts reviews, essays, interviews and other notices at robmclennan.blogspot.com

Reviews

[M.W.P.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

all those words you didnt need to use
& then

wrappt up like a tongue around the sun
the axeman filling

aperture

& grace
- red earth (preface, i, pg. 9

* * *

japanese couple
 wedding dress
take picture (silence

reverence) outside
annes house
(haunted woods

)keep hands
- red earth (one, iii, pg. 13

* * *

live from red

rocks in sand

 (crumble


bridge effect & swings

take the ferry out

 (initial


nfl ferries & the

pilferd coffee mug

 (says so


at the close, she

wants to hear music
- red earth (one, xi, pg. 21

* * *

to find the meaning of the consecrated flesh

mary magdelaine, how unfairly maligned
 by so much christian scholarly

"gold & love affairs" - had my share,
 now soon again, the tarot tells

im on my way, the five of swords retorts,
 the world card, arcana major

& all four elements, facing out
 my hopes & fears, my final outcome
- Slow foot, & swift foot, death delays but for a season. - Ezra Pound, Select Poems, pg. 39

* * *

to wonder where the pigment faded. say the word
 & it becomes yours.

list everything you know of saints & sages,
 the phone numbers
of all those claims. divisive.

my view of somerset overlaps the bus routes,
tour groups that gape me
 pencilling the window. take one.

they always go the wrong lean on the hill.
push up, not down, & end up
 guzzling gas to get nowhere.

expansive figures lay.
- Cloth is one thing, both have drifted, and speech - Erin Moure, pg. 42

* * *

correspondence raging out of control. postcards
 & thank-you notes slide thru the slot.

how does the freedom explain the frame? how do
 firearms & flame-throwers really differ?

its one thing to hear the talking doll
 swear like a drunken sailor. gratuities
out of teddy ruxpin.

dont be putting words in my mouth.

popcorn wedged between my teeth
 from last nights flick,
a shakespeare for today

where hamlet wears after-shave; endorses sportscars.
- one perception must follow immediately and directly on a further perception - Robert Creeley, pg. 48

* * *

you my, you me, speak spark,
 answer nothing

epyllion condense, epitome
 marginalize in time

done, but w/ errors on the page

subsequent speech forgets
- mention is not to be mentioned - David UU, pg. 55

* * *

how all becomes to misinterpret.
deliberate markers in place. arrows
 in.

greyhound bus by car. there, ive
 done it again.

it hurts to be ( ) all the time.
it hurts (to be).

& there people love in some places.
& there people live in some places.

two blocks away,
an acre folds in on itself. folds in.

time & time again. unyields.
- where field yields to town / a house folds into itself - jwcurry, pg. 68

* * *

take where the light flickers. over the hills

the light opens up & the fly goes
thru it. the fly goes thru
& burns, upon entry & re:
the light bulb. attractions
& the death of fire. icarus
abounds w/ was, but no one
remembers the name

of his father, the half
who lived. who knew.
the difference. stories
of light & dark. or into
the sun. burning w/ cold,
the dark side

of the moon. in all these years,
she never could tell. a heat

like us.
- light, darker, darkest, bright, pg. 77

* * *

a.

bird flies off in one direction & then.
takes the rider off the
horse. off. takes.

rides a wave thru the top
& over. waves. learns.

a picture drawn. a thousand
words minus one.
- meanwhile (for bp, pg. 83

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This wasn't the one I read but a selected, which isn't listed here, and prior to when this released. I think he's an okay poet. First impressions sometimes not being correct, and he does help many get published. I don't follow, even things I enjoy, all the time, but I was reading stuff on Twitter, when I had (many accounts, some of which did well), and I got the jist he may have died? Any poetry lovers out there?? I know it's a smaller art. Anyhow. Hopefully he's still out there helping. N

[Julian Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wide breadth in this collection, spanning PEI, the local and domestic, the decidedly playful (eg and esp. "meanwhile (for bp"), with the autobiographical intersecting throughout. I've always been fascinated by rob's life-writing, whether it's in his poetry, as here, or in his collections of essays, in the ways memory becomes durable when put to page.

I am also happy to report, to respond to conjecture in an earlier review, that he is very much still alive.