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Kids in Triage
From the winner of the 2010 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award comes a remarkable debut poetry collection. In a culture that is at once desensitized by the media while it fetishizes fear and outrage, how can we talk about emergencies, both public and private in a way that still communicates their horrors, in a way that still matters? Kilby Smith-McGregor answers this question with a dizzying range of voices animated by desire, humour, pleasure and grief. This is poetry that strikes a balance between baroque elegance and haunting understatement. In it we witness the horror of spontaneous human combustion, as well as the awkwardness of swimming lessons; the precision of code breaking, as well as the disorder of hard drinking. Effortlessly combining the languages of myth, medicine and metaphysics, Kids in Triage is rich in vivid language and arresting images, a multi-faceted feast for the imagination.
80 pages, Paperback
Published May 3, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 18, 2016
**I received this book through a Goodreads Giveaway**
Hmm.
This collection made me feel uncultured, because quite simply, I didn't get it.
Admittedly I'm not much of a poetry reader at all, but even compared to other poems I've read these ones left me scratching my head.
At the same time, though, I enjoyed reading them. I loved the way the words sounded together, even if I had no idea what was trying to be said underneath all the allusions and general...well, poetsy stuff. Kind of like standing in an art museum and seeing a painting that was obviously produced through a lot of talent, yet being unable to grasp what exactly the point of the piece is. You like the colour, you like the texture, but that's about it. All surface level.
If I had to pick a favorite it would be CHAPTER II: THE POOL OF TEARS, mainly because I think I actually got it. Other ones I liked include WAKE UP REMEMBERING ORANGES, EDISON'S DREAM, MATCHBOOK, AMNIOTIC, and MORE HEAT THAN LIGHT. The others just went woosh, straight over my head. I'll come back to the collection later and have another go.
Hmm.
This collection made me feel uncultured, because quite simply, I didn't get it.
Admittedly I'm not much of a poetry reader at all, but even compared to other poems I've read these ones left me scratching my head.
At the same time, though, I enjoyed reading them. I loved the way the words sounded together, even if I had no idea what was trying to be said underneath all the allusions and general...well, poetsy stuff. Kind of like standing in an art museum and seeing a painting that was obviously produced through a lot of talent, yet being unable to grasp what exactly the point of the piece is. You like the colour, you like the texture, but that's about it. All surface level.
If I had to pick a favorite it would be CHAPTER II: THE POOL OF TEARS, mainly because I think I actually got it. Other ones I liked include WAKE UP REMEMBERING ORANGES, EDISON'S DREAM, MATCHBOOK, AMNIOTIC, and MORE HEAT THAN LIGHT. The others just went woosh, straight over my head. I'll come back to the collection later and have another go.
November 19, 2016
I admire writers that can make me think or question something in our society. The craft of sitting down and turning a careful phrase must take time to create. And the time to sit down and read that phrase and ponder it takes time as well. No doubt, Smith-McGregor must have taken time to reflect and write these phrases for her poetry. They are deep, sharp and introspective. And I feel guilty taking my time reading this book, but I wanted to give each phrase careful consideration and reflection. So for the past 5 months, I have read and re-read this book several times when I found myself a few moments solitude. And I found the experience worthwhile.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews