If I Were In a Cage I'd Reach Out For You

by Adele Barclay

If I Were In A Cage I'd Reach Out For You is a collection that travels through both time and place, liminally occupying the chasm between Canadiana and Americana mythologies. These poems dwell in surreal pockets of the everyday warped landscapes of modern cities and flood into the murky basin of the intimate.


Amidst the comings and goings, there's a sincere desire to connect to others, an essential need to reach out, to redraft the narratives that make kinship radical and near. These poems are love letters to the uncomfortable, the unfathomable, and the altered geographies that define our own misshapen understandings of the world.

Genres: Poetry, Canada, Queer

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2016

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

ok not to be this bitch but these poems just SING! the language and the musicality and the imagery is so deeply beautiful and stirring. i loved this.

[df parizeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know you're not supposed to mess with the past, but if time travel were possible, I would take this book back to the high school version of myself.

[Kyla Jamieson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barclay’s poems function as DIY time machines, twisting past and present together while summoning a cast of friends whose names punctuate titles, dedications, and lines--in unforgiving landscapes, with unexpected metaphors and synaesthetic images, these poems celebrate friendship, magic, and resilience. In "Cardinal Versus Mutable," one of my favourite poems, the speaker's heels are blistered from dancing and her sheet are dirty; she's "so tired / I can't even curate / a good life" but even so, "Sometimes I do / see a world / where our bodies fit, / the depth of it is excruciating." There is something shame-banishing about this collection, in which no feelings or desires are unwelcome or undeserving of being made into art.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Flowers of St. Francis

I will bring you the flowers of St. Francis.
Hummingbirds send word of his miracles,
men gather in huts to sing and drink milky soup with sage.
The stupid one teaches lessons through slapstick:
barbarians wrap his body in sheets,
fling him like skip rope until St. Francis intervenes.
Children who pull wings off flies, poke out lizards' eyes,
men and women who don't give a shit if you come.
The flowers of St. Francis make us all like that,
so dumb and bodily and pure.

[Ollie Ander · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as some of the imagery was specific and therefor fun to read/speculate, it was just way too much specific imagery to get any sense of meaning. It felt like the half a dozen lines of imagery one after another in a single poem were meant to accumulate to something deeply personal, like all these things lead to the same vibe, but it didn't work for me and will probably be hard for anyone else to relate. This just seemed like a case of being too personal to be relatable.

[Margaryta · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If I Were in a Cage I'd Reach Out for You" is a tiny, surreal whirlwind that just spins and spins and whisks you away with it, and even though you don't always know what's going on you are not only able to fall in love with several of the poems as they whip by you, but also enjoy the entire, blustery ride as a whole.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I Were In A Cage I'd Reach Out for You is a feralferryneon film noir earthy collection of desire and melancholy. i read the book when it first came out and am rereading after having just finished reading Renaissance Normcore. i will be discussing both on the SmallMachineTalks, all being well. http://smallmachinetalks.com/

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, this collection of poems connected imagery in a most puzzling and peculiarly pleasant way, providing all the feels that good poetry should.
‘The heat we wished for busted
morning’s yolk so I puddled
all afternoon. ...’
My favourite poems were September, Cocktail and Sea Hag. I look forward to reading Renaissance Normcore next.

[Tara Borin · Rating 4 out of 5]

These poems were dense with strange and surprising images, leaving me with more a feeling of atmosphere or emotion than a straight narrative. My favourite poems were the “Dear Sara” letters that opened each section.

[Léa Taranto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartfelt narrative poems with masterful enjambment smidgeons of synaesthesia, love, lust, sensual language, everything in between. And something similar to whimsy but with sharp teeth that bite into your mind and rip into your consciousness throughout the following days.

[Dana Neily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly beautiful language that leaves you with strong feelings although some of the word choices were more confusing than powerful.

[Enn · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I often had trouble understanding exactly what Barclay’s specific images were trying to convey, I was able to appreciate getting lost in the deeply personal space she opens up for us.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magical and weird, trying and pushing and pulling, these poems explore themes of witchiness, lost love, lost friends, family ties and the crap smell of cherry blossoms ground into the asphalt in Vancouver in the spring. Some familiar themes here, some poems that don't reach as far or turn as odd or challenging as I expected them to, but all in all a lush and beautiful collection, a modern slice of our Canadiana.

[Lancakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

First reading: a little too tight for my tastes, I had a hard time finding my way into the metaphors. But, second reading: the poems started to open up and overall I was able to digest more of the imagery as it fits to paint the greater whole of each poem. And SUCH gorgeous images! Each poem could be, or contain, a spell. Barclay's poems for her friends are particularly strong. Overall this collection is warm and lusty, the latter of which is an essential element in poetry for me. Can't document any stand outs because I had to return the book to the library, but I really want to buy a copy considering how well it stood up to rereading.

[Kevin Spenst]

Wondrous witchery in language that zaps spells you didn't know existed. (I finished this months ago, but have been off Good Reads.)