A poetic masterclass from a writer at the height of his craft
Kenneth Sherman’s work has always displayed a vibrant lyricism, so it’s no surprise that his powerful new collection contains a number of poems with musical motifs. In such pieces as “Clarinet,” “Transistor Sister,” and the book’s titular poem, Sherman ponders our human transience while searching for “a voice to stand time’s test.” Sherman also confronts health concerns in a language that is Shaker-plain. The book concludes with the sombre, compassionate, and truly remarkable seven-part “Kingdom,” a meditation on the plight of the dispossessed.
In a Globe and Mail review of The Well: New and Selected Poems, Fraser Sutherland notes, “Sherman always seems to be listening to the voice of Canadian soil and landscape at the same time as he is attentive to the great European metaphysical theme of the soul in conflict with the world and time.” So it is with Jogging with the Great Ray Charles. Sherman has also included three brilliant translations of Yiddish poets that appeared in the Malahat Review’s “At Home in Translation” issue.
Authors
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Description conventions
- rda
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- C811/.54
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 23
- Distributor
- Canadian Electronic Library (Firm),
- General Note
- Poems Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- ISBN
- 9781770413443 9781770909427
- LCCN
- PR9199.3.S5123
- LCCN Item number
- J64 2016eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (79 pages)
- Published in
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)kck00237258 (OCoLC)947134045 (CaOOCEL)451516
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Front Cover 1
- Table of Contents 5
- One 6
- Clarinet 7
- Transistor Radio 8
- Jogging with the Great Ray Charles 9
- Contra Language 10
- Berlioz 11
- Heart 13
- Awaiting Biopsy Results 14
- A Dream of Leaving the Toronto General 15
- Venus Occluded 17
- Predictable 18
- Umbrella 19
- Two 20
- You 21
- Western 22
- North 23
- To My Brother 24
- How to Prevent Your Own Conception 25
- The Collector 27
- Revision 29
- On First Reading HAMLET 30
- The Tailor 31
- The Home 32
- At the Glendale Theatre, 1957 33
- Layton 34
- Little Grandmother 35
- The War 37
- Salvaged Pages 38
- A Contemporary 39
- Photograph of a Talmudist 40
- Our Home 41
- My Friend is Dying 42
- Four Questions 43
- Three 44
- No Tracks 45
- Cherry Tomatoes 46
- Snail 48
- Fishing 49
- Clouds 50
- Northern Lake 51
- The Marina 52
- Dusty 53
- Wringer-Washer 55
- Penhale’s Schooner 56
- The Seville 57
- Colón, Panama 58
- Seashells 59
- The Value of Repetition 60
- Gingko 61
- Buddha’s Parasol 62
- Contra Absolutes 63
- Hearing Your Favorite Poet 64
- Wise Cracks 65
- Four 70
- Kingdom 71
- Acknowledgements 76
- About the Author 77
- Copyright 78
- Back Cover 79