Rig Talk

by Peter Christensen

When the well-fed men in suits and ties and manicured fingernails talk about the official price of oil around the conference table or on TV, they want us to forget there is a price per barrel that cannot be measured in dollars. This is the human cost of getting the oil out of the ground.

Peter Christensen's Rig Talk brings an insider's look at the harsh and difficult working life in the oil patch. These are tough poems about a terrible job, destructive no less to the people who work at it than the landscapes it scars.

With their stark power, Christensen's poems bring home to us an unforgettable way what statistics on empoloyment on the rigs mean.

69 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1981

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an interesting mix of poems that extend beyond rig work and into nature or culture, esp. some glimpses into transient working class life in Alberta during the 80s.

I think I was most affected by the early poems. My favorite being the one about a rig blowout, or another that's an elegy to rig workers.

Some poems reference the mistreatment of animals, which
aligns with how destructive oil work is.

Rig worker poetry wasn't something I knew existed. It fascinates me to no end.

[Brandon Buttery · Rating 4 out of 5]

really great